Capital Punishment and Political Affiliation

Abstract

This paper outlines several popular utilitarian stances in addition to moral reasoning for a person's decision on where they fall in regards to the argument of capital punishment. Using outside materials from accredited sources as well as personal advances, the construction of these ideals appears to be quite strong in the decision process. After giving insight on the background surrounding popular rationale of choice, the paper then seeks to discover what drives individuals the most in that choice. With a uniquely constructed survey for the purposes of this study alone, a sample that is representational to the demographics of society was able to be tested for the research. Inspired by the return of political importance the years of 2007 and 2008 have brought, a renaissance of sorts, the testing of political affiliation within the criminal justice system seemed only logical. The project was undertaken to determine whether or not political affiliation had an effect on where people stand on the issue of the death penalty. It was ascertained that there was in fact a strong relationship between which political party individuals aligned themselves with, most notably Democrats and Republicans and how they felt about the death penalty. ; FSU Undergraduate Honors Thesis ; Criminology & Criminal Justice