Jean Lacroix published his paper “Connections During Democratic Transitions: Insights from the Political Purge in Post-WWII France,” co-authored with T. Aidt and P-GK. Méon. in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy.
Abstract: We examine how connections shaped transitional justice during France’s post-WWII democratic transition. Parliamentarians who had supported the Vichy regime faced a two-stage purge process involving two courts. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that Law graduates – an influential group with ties to one of the courts – had a 10 to 14 percentage point higher acquittal rate. We analyze 17,589 documents in individual defendants’ files to explain this difference. According to this analysis, indirect connections – connections through third parties – enabled transmission of information to the judges, highlighting how connected elite groups can navigate transitions despite institutional safeguards.