Trajectories in Judicial Executions around the World in the Post-Cold War Era

• In Event: Legal Order and Social Control: Comparative Analyses

Abstract

The death penalty has existed in nearly all societies and countries throughout history. With the end of the Cold War, as the global trend toward democratization proceeds, governments are giving more attention to human rights in both foreign affairs and domestic politics. Although many developing countries have since reviewed and revised their death penalty policies and practices, substantial country-level variation exists in patterns of growth and change. In this study, we develop longitudinal hypotheses to examine how political, demographic, socioeconomic, and global forces affect the number of judicial executions across countries over time. Using a latent growth curve model, we identify the shape of the worldwide trend over time, whether the level of executions immediately after the end of Cold War predicts subsequent rate of change, whether groups of countries differ in their trajectories, and covariates associated with these changes. The data for this analysis covers 229 countries and territories over the years 1990 to 2013.

Authors

• Margaret Schmuhl, CUNY Graduate Center / John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Hung-En Sung, John Jay College of Criminal Justice