Views on Capital Punishment

This article discusses the positions of the Democratic Party, Republican Party, and Libertarian Party on capital punishment. It also explores two interest groups in favor of capital punishment and two interest groups against it. Additionally, it provides a summary of surveys and polls conducted on the general public's stance regarding capital punishment.

Running Head: VIEWS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
American Government
Views on Capital Punishment

VIEWS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
PART 1
1) Position of the issue taken by the Democratic Party:
Support for capital punishment by the Democratic Party has considerably dropped in
the mid of 1990. Democratic support for capital punishment has been dropped as more than
10 innocent executions have been come to light since 1976. Some of the Democrats consider
that getting drugs for execution, housing and giving counsel to the prisoners is overpriced,
rather, condemning to life in prison is economically viable. In 2012 Democratic Party
specified that capital punishment should not be taken unconcernedly, offenders should have
actual counsel aid, DNA tests should be carried out, and the justice administration should be
unbiased and non-discriminatory (Lambert, et. al., 2011).
Rendering to the report published by the CNN (2016), ‘Democrats are calling for an end to
the capital punishment,’ as the sentence has been proven unpleasant & unnecessary practice
that should not be sustained in United States of America (CNN, 2016).
2) Position of the issue taken by the Republican Party:
Republican Party supports capital punishment just to help the sufferers of ferocious
crimes. In the year 2004, the Republican Party stated that they support courts having a
decision to execute capital punishment in the capital murder cases; they would provide
provision to the Federal Constitutional amendment for the sufferers of ferocious crime. In the
same year, the party stated that capital punishment is a warning for the delinquents and it
would also frighten future crimes (Beim & Kastellec, 2014). More than 77% of Republicans
support capital punishment as compared to the other parties. Republicans strongly support the
fact that capital punishment is morally acceptable for crimes such as murder or rape
(Ramirez, 2013).
3) Position of the issue taken by the Libertarian Party (Third Party)
Capital punishment has been one of the prime reasons for which Libertarians were
separated for years. The party members have conveyed their concerns about capital
punishment; they are completely against capital punishment. In the year 2012, presidential
candidate Gary Johnson revealed his disagreement towards capital punishment (Chance,
2016). The Libertarians support the efforts done to stop capital punishment, they assert that
capital punishment is a cruel act that should not be sustained in the United States of America.
According to the party views, the capital punishment influences far beyond the person who is
executed; as it influences his/her family and other associations as well, this also impacts
taxpayers of the country. Libertarians are certain about the fact that capital punishment is
unnecessary exertion of the state power and there is no use of such a punishment method in a
free society (Jones, 2018).
PART 2
4) Two interest groups in favor of capital punishment:
Wesley Lowe’s Pro Death Penalty Page

VIEWS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
This is a webpage that supports the death penalty and it is a tribute to the victims of
heinous crimes such as murder and rape. Rendering to the data provided in the webpage,
more the number of capital punishments executed, less the number of murders occurred in the
country. Wesley Lowe argues provides the details of capital punishment in each and every
aspect; the webpage also provides viewpoints on capital punishment referring to the Christian
beliefs (howdoesmrrogersfeel, 2019).
Pro-Death Penalty
This is also an interest group that supports capital punishment powerfully. Pro-Death
penalty notifies the public about the scheduled executions and crime that was committed.
Public opinions are posted on the webpage that supports the death penalty for the heinous
crimes committed. This group strongly disagrees to the groups who are against capital
punishment and it provides the number of prisoners who are on death row
(howdoesmrrogersfeel, 2019).
5) Two interest groups against capital punishment
American Civil Liberties Union
The ACLU considers that capital punishment is the cruel and inapt way to penalize a
criminal; ACLU believes that death penalty intrudes upon the constitutional ban against
painful & unusual castigations (Donohue, 2017). Moreover, the group believes that the state
does not have the right to kill human beings in the name of law; capital punishment should be
substituted with another punishment method instead. ACLU considers that the death penalty
is a discredit to the values of a democratic system and it is a denial of civil liberty as well
(Bohm, 2016).
The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
The NCADP’s mission is to eradicate the capital punishment in the United States of
America and also back the efforts to obliterate the capital punishment globally. The
organization believes in identifying the roots and causes which encourages a person to
commit a crime, rather than punishing them with cruelty. The organization considers the
opportunity for self-transformation and redemption. The organization stands up against the
death penalty powerfully and educate people about the issue (Hood & Hoyle, 2015).
PART 3
6) Descriptive summary of surveys/polls conducted regarding the general public’s stance
regarding capital punishment
According to the survey conducted on April 25-May 1, 2018, public support for the
death penalty was decreased in 2016, but there has an increase in public support since then
(Oliphant, 2018).

VIEWS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
Figure 1 Survey of US adults conducted April 25 - May 1
Source – (Oliphant, 2018)
According to the image graph portrayed above, after 2016, the supporters for the
death penalty were increased and the opposition was comparatively less. 54% of the
Americans favor the death penalty, while 39% are against it. According to this survey,
support for capital punishment has been divided according to the gender as well; 61% of men
are in favor, but 34% opposed to it and 46 % women are in favor, while 45% are opposing
the death penalty (Oliphant, 2018).
Another survey was conducted in the year 2018 to study public opinion on whether
capital punishment is fairly executed or not. According to this survey number of Americans
who believes that the death penalty is applied fairly is becoming considerably low (Gallup,
2018).
Figure 2 Another survey conducted in 2018 to study public opinion
Source – (Gallup, 2018)

VIEWS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
According to the facts and figures, 49% of people believe that capital punishments are
applied fairly, while 45% of people believe that the punishments are executed unfairly.
According to this survey, 29% of people consider that capital punishment is executed
frequently, and 56% of people are in support of capital punishment (Gallup, 2018).

VIEWS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
References
Beim, D., & Kastellec, J. P. (2014). The interplay of ideological diversity, dissents, and
discretionary review in the judicial hierarchy: Evidence from death penalty cases. The
Journal of Politics, 76(4), 1074-1088.
Bohm, R. M. (2016). Deathquest: An introduction to the theory and practice of capital
punishment in the United States. London: Routledge.
Chance, D. (2016). Executing freedom: The cultural life of capital punishment in the United
States. University of Chicago Press.
CNN. (2016). In party platform, Democrats call for end to death penalty. Retrieved from
https://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/01/politics/democrats-death-penalty/index.html
Donohue, W. A. (2017). The Politics of the American Civil Liberties Union. London:
Routledge.
Gallup. (2018). New Low of 49% in U.S. Say Death Penalty Applied Fairly. Retrieved from
https://news.gallup.com/poll/243794/new-low-say-death-penalty-applied-fairly.aspx
Hood, R., & Hoyle, C. (2015). The death penalty: A worldwide perspective. OUP Oxford.
Howdoesmrrogersfeel. (2019). Interest Groups. Retrieved from
https://howdoesmrrogersfeel.weebly.com/interest-groups.html
Jones, B. (2018). The Republican Party, conservatives, and the future of capital
punishment. J. Crim. L. & Criminology, 108, 223.
Lambert, E. G., Camp, S. D., Clarke, A., & Jiang, S. (2011). The impact of information on
death penalty support, revisited. Crime & Delinquency, 57(4), 572-599.
Oliphant, S. (2018). Public support for the death penalty picks up. Retrieved from
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/11/us-support-for-death-penalty-
ticks-up-2018/
Ramirez, M. D. (2013). Americans’ changing views on crime and punishment. Public
opinion quarterly, 77(4), 1006-1031.