2003 Explaining spatial variation in support for capital punishment: A multilevel analysis

This research examines the effects of social context on support for the death penalty using individual-level data from the 1974–98 Gen-eral Social Survey (GSS), which have been linked with aggregate-level data on homicide rates and sociodemographic, political, and economic characteristics. Consistent with instrumental, social threat, and constructionist perspectives, this study finds that residents of areas with higher homicide rates, a larger proportion of blacks, and a more conservative political climate are significantly more likely to support the death penalty, net of compositional differences. These results warrant further attention to contextual and individual sources of public support for the death penalty. The United States is one of the few developed societies in the world that retains the death penalty. Various explanations for this aspect of American exceptionalism have been proposed, including distinctive features of American federalism and the populist nature of American politics (Zim