Nicholas Wollschlager

Capital Punishment Through Political Affiliation: a Study on Death Penalty Views Based on Political Affiliation Nicholas Wollschlager

Death. It is the ultimate form of punishment and thus it is not surprising that it is also the most controversial. In studying such a contentious issue, it is only natural to question its place in the sea of turmoil deemed politics. Individuals and society alike have used the institution of death as punishment in response to crimes since the dawn of time, it is true that the means by which it is performed were of a cruder nature in the past, but nevertheless it was surely there. The question of how this essential facet of the criminal justice cycle matches up with political affiliation is an interesting one, as is the question of where individuals with certain party viewpoints fall on the subject. Media reports suggest the Republicans are steadfast in their support for capital punishment, while the Democrats see no room for this punishment in the modern world. It is also interesting that there was a time when Democrats were not as they are today and were the more stalwart group in favor of capital punishment; it was the way of the ?Southern Democrats?, the working man's type of politics and backwoods or cowboy justice.