Is Capital Punishment an Effective Way of Deterring

Crime?

Governmental Perspective

• Democracy

• Communism

• Theocracy

Democracy• Why does capital punishment violate democratic

ideals?

• Is capital punishment an effective source of combating crime in democratic countries?

• A closer look at Democracy, Democratization and the Death Penalty by Christopher Hobson as he discusses the effects of the death penalty in democratic nations.

• Research found in Facts and Figures on the Death Penalty done by the University of Hawaii supports the claim that the death penalty does not deter crime rates.

Communism

• What differentiates a communist government from other forms of government?

• Why is capital punishment used commonly in communist countries?

• Is capital punishment what directly combats crime rate?

• In “ABSENCE OF EXECUTIONS: A special report.; States With No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates” by Raymond Bonner and Ford Fessenden from nytimes.com we examine why the death penalty does not deter crime rates.

• In “Why the Death Penalty Should be Abolished” from icomdp.org we examine the statistics.

• In “North Korea Human Rights” from amnestyusa.org we research the rates in North Korea.

• In Democracy, Democratization and the Death Penalty by Christopher Hobson we will examine crime rates in relation to authoritarian regimes.

Theocracy • What differentiates a theocracy from other forms of

government?

• What constitutes appropriate use of capital punishment?

• Does religion help to combat capital punishment?

• In “Iran Resorts to Hangings in Public to Cut Crime” from nytimes.com we examine how public executions affect theocracies.

• In “Saudi Arabia steps up beheadings; some see political message” from reuters.com we examine the effects of public beheading on crime rates.

Sterbenz, Christina. "China Executes More People Than The Rest Of The World Combined." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://www.businessinsider.com/amnesty-international-death-penalty-report-2014-10>.

Judgement

• I have determined that countries that tend to favor an abolishment of capital punishment tend to have more favorable crime rates.

Conclusion

• Capital punishment in democratic, communist, and theocratic countries has proven that it is not an effective way of deterring crime.

Sources•Sterbenz, Christina. "China Executes More People Than The Rest Of The World Combined." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://www.businessinsider.com/amnesty-international-death-penalty-report-2014-10>.

•"Democracy, Democratization and the Death Penalty." Democracy, Democratization and the Death Penalty. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. <http://www.academia.edu/2404955/Democracy_Democratization_and_the_Death_Penalty>.

•Facts and Figures on the Death Penalty. London: Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1999. Web.

•Bonner, Raymond, and Ford Fessenden. "ABSENCE OF EXECUTIONS: A Special Report.; States With No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Sept. 2000. Web. 07 Mar. 2015.

•"Why the Death Penalty Should Be Abolished." International Commission against the Death Penalty RSS. N.p., 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

•Erdbrink, Thomas. "Iran Resorts to Hangings in Public to Cut Crime." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Jan. 2013. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

•McDowall, Angus. "Saudi Arabia Steps up Beheadings; Some See Political Message." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 09 Mar. 2015.

Is Capital Punishment an Effective Way of Deterring

Crime?