Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty Today

Abstract

In coming to terms with America’s system of capital punishment we need to answer three explanatory questions. First: Why the death penalty disappeared throughout the West. A practice that was once universal has now all but disappeared. What happened? To answer this, we need a theory focused on state formation and development and its implications for the use of violence. Violence, especially lethal violence and the power to kill one’s enemies, were once an elementary particle of state power. These powers were crucial in the process of early state formation – to monopolize legitimate violence; to disarm and pacify the population. They became both unnecessary and problematic as states developed into liberal democratic polities with a settled social order. Interests of state, as perceived by state officials – and as influenced by social forces and sentiments – explain the longterm course of capital punishment practice.