When the State No Longer Kills: International Human Rights Norms and Abolition of Capital Punishment

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Overview

Despite public support for the death penalty, a remarkable number of countries in different parts of the world have banned capital punishment in all its forms, regardless of the nature of the crime or the criminal. Arguing that international norms are often a critical source of ideas for change in state policy, but that impact varies greatly, Sangmin Bae offers a systemic explanation of how, when, and under what conditions a country complies with international norms. She examines four countries that reached different stages of norm compliance with respect to the death penalty-Ukraine, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States. Focusing on the role of political leadership and domestic political institutions, Bae clarifies the causal mechanisms that lead to state compliance or noncompliance with the norm.

About the Author:
Sangmin Bae is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northeastern Illinois University

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780791472071
  • Publisher: State University of New York Press
  • Publication date: 8/9/2007
  • Pages: 194
  • Product dimensions: 6.10 (w) x 8.90 (h) x 0.70 (d)

Meet the Author

Sangmin Bae is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northeastern Illinois University.
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Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables

Foreword

Preface

1 Introduction: Prohibition of the Death Penalty as a Human Rights Norm 1

International Standards Prohibiting Capital Punishment 1

International Norms in International Relations Research 5

Methodological and Analytical Issues 12

2 Ukraine 23

The Council of Europe and the Death-Penalty-Free Zone 24

Political Turbulence and Rising Crime Rates 29

Ukraine's Resistance to the Council of Europe 32

Public Opinion on the Death Penalty Controversy 32

The Process of Enforcing the Council of Europe Norm 34

Conditions for Death Penalty Reform 36

Concluding Remarks 39

3 South Africa 41

Capital Punishment under Apartheid 42

The Abolitionist Movement and the Role of External Donors 45

The Moratorium on Executions 48

Political Transformation and Criminal Society: "Crime is Out of Control!" 51

The Constitutional Court's Ruling on the Death Penalty 53

Post-Death Penalty Abolition Years: The Debate Continues 56

Who and What Played the Major Roles? 58

Conclusion: The Politics of Principle 60

4 South Korea 63

Dictatorship, Economic Miracle, and Human Security (1948-1987) 65

Democratic Transition and the Continuing Use of the Death Penalty (1987-1997) 69

The Emergence of the Abolitionist Movement 70

Changing Political Conditions for Death Penalty Abolitionism (1998-Present) 72

The Abolitionist Camp: Catholic Church, Amnesty International, and Legislators 73

Why Not Abolition Right Now? 77

Concluding Remarks 83

5 United States 85

"American Exceptionalism" and International Pressure 87

Do Crime Rates Matter? 91

The Vigilante Tradition 93

Racial Prejudice and Injustice 95

WhyMore after the 1980s?: The Era of Heightened Inequality and Punitiveness 96

Anti-Death Penalty Activism 97

Public Support for the Death Penalty: A Constant Variable 99

The Peculiarity of the U.S. Political Institutions 101

Is Political Leadership a Remaining Virtue? 105

Concluding Remarks 106

6 Conclusion 109

Ways of Norm Compliance: Ukraine, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States 110

Conditions for Norm Compliance 114

Causal Mechanisms of Norm Compliance 122

Conclusion: Extending the Argument 124

Notes 127

Bibliography 155

Index 173

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