Congress and Capital Punishment
An Exercise in Symbolic Politics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6090285 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Barbara Ann Stolz (0000-0003-0421-149X, American University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1983 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 157-180 |
| Publication date | 1983-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Law & Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0265-8240 • E-ISSN: 1467-9930 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9930.1983.tb00294.x |
| OpenAlex | W2003139340 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 16 |
Even when federal authorities were legally empowered to impose a death sentence, the sanction was rarely carried out. Between 1930 and 1976, there were only 33 such executions. During the past decade, bills, both imposing and abolishing capital punishment, have been introduced repeatedly in the U.S. Congress. Furthermore, certain members of Congress have demonstrated intense interest in such efforts. The continued debate and interest is better explained by the symbolic rather than tangible components of such legislation. This article examines four aspects of the symbolic component of federal death penalty legislation: reassurance function, moral‐educative function, model for the states, and the deterrence debate
Capital (architecture · Capital punishment · Criminology · Deterrence (psychology · Function (biology · Law and economics · Legislation · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Punishment (psychology · Sentence · Sociology · The Symbolic · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · History · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Torture, Ethics, and Law
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,1 |
| Citation span | 1985 - 2022 (38) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |