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

Front Cover
State University of New York Press, Feb 1, 2012 - Political Science - 194 pages
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.

From inside the book

Selected pages

Contents

PROHIBITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY AS A HUMAN RIGHTS NORM
1
2 UKRAINE
23
3 SOUTH AFRICA
41
4 SOUTH KOREA
63
5 THE UNITED STATES
85
6 CONCLUSION
109
UKRAINE SOUTH AFRICASOUTH KOREA AND THE UNITED STATES
110
CONDITIONS FOR NORM COMPLIANCE
114
CAUSAL MECHANISMS OF NORM COMPLIANCE
122
EXTENDING THE ARGUMENT
124
NOTES
127
BIBLIOGRAPHY
155
INDEX
173
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 24 - Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is the achievement of greater unity between its Members and that one of the methods by which that aim is to be pursued is the maintenance and further realisation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms...
Page 128 - Robert O. Keohane. After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy (Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1984); and Vinod Aggarwal, Liberal Protectionism: The International Politics of Organized Textile Trade (Berkeley: University of California Press. 1985). See also Ernst B. Haas, "Why Collaborate? Issue-Linkage and International Regimes.
Page 60 - The Amendment must draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.
Page 1 - Even if a civil society were to dissolve itself by common agreement of all its members (for example, if the people inhabiting an island decided to separate and disperse themselves around the world), the last murderer remaining in prison must first be executed, so that everyone will duly receive what his actions are worth...
Page 4 - Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty...
Page 75 - Protocol as accorded under applicable international law, in particular the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Page 1 - ... now, at the very moment, the soul will leave the body and that one will cease to be a man and that that's bound to happen; the worst part of it is that it's certain.
Page 71 - The freedoms and rights of citizens may be restricted by law only when necessary for national security, the maintenance of law and order or for public welfare. Even when such restriction is imposed, no essential aspect of the freedom or right shall be violated.
Page 3 - No reservation is admissible to the present Protocol, except for a reservation made at the time of ratification or accession that provides for the application of the death penalty in time of war pursuant to a conviction for a most serious crime of a military nature committed during wartime.

About the author (2012)

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

Bibliographic information