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I believe Steven Pinker made the point that the death penalty has popular support in many Western nations and that the only reason the US hasn’t fully outlawed it is because (contrary to belief) it’s more democratic.
So, taken through this lens, the reason those other nations are so much less barbaric is because the civilized elites can successfully exert more of their political will.
I think it works as a deterrent (notably against desertion during war) which is why not outlawed outright, and states' rights mean states have discretion to use it. The U.S. philosophy of criminal justice is more about deterrence and retribution than rehabilitation, which I think is the correct one.
Does it work as a deterrent generally, though? There are only six states that actively execute criminals, exclusively for murder. Of those six states, out of all 50 states and DC, Mississippi has the second-highest murder rate, Alabama fourth, Missouri seventh, Oklahoma 19th, Texas 22nd, and Arizona 23rd. They're all in the top half of states (plus DC) for murder rate, and comprise 2 of the top 5 and 3 of the top 10. If we expand our horizons a bit, there's no real correlation on an international level, either.
Hm..but those states also have among the worst demographics too . Life on death row, even if it does not lead to an execution, is also a deterrent. Nordic countries are known for being lenient about punishing homicide. This may work for their high-trust demographic, but I think it would be a disaster if tried in the US.
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Don't we need to establish the way the causal arrow goes? Places with high murder rates may feel especially compelled to keep executing criminals on the table because without them they'd have even higher murder rates.
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