Replication Data for: Death Penalty: The political foundations of the global trend toward abolition, Human Rights Review, 9 (2), 2008, pp. 241-268

The death penalty is like no other punishment. Its continued existence in many countries of the world creates political tensions within these countries and between governments of retentionist and abolitionist countries. After the Second World War, more and more countries have abolished the death penalty. This article argues that the major determinants of this global trend towards abolition are political, a claim which receives support in a quantitative cross-national analysis from 1950 to 2002. Democracy, democratisation, international political pressure on retentionist countries and peer group effects in relatively abolitionist regions all raise the likelihood of abolition. There is also a partisan effect, as abolition becomes more likely if the chief executive’s party is left wing-oriented. Cultural, social and economic determinants receive only limited support. The global trend towards abolition will go on if democracy continues to spread around the world and abolitionist countries stand by their commitment to press for abolition all over the world.

死刑与其他任何刑罚都截然不同。当前全球仍有诸多保留死刑国（retentionist countries），这一现状不仅在各国内部引发政治紧张局势，也在保留死刑国与废除死刑国（abolitionist countries）的政府之间造成了政治对立。第二次世界大战结束后，越来越多的国家相继废除了死刑。本文主张，驱动全球死刑废除趋势的核心因素为政治层面，这一观点得到了1950年至2002年间跨国定量分析研究的支持。民主制度、民主化进程、对保留死刑国施加的国际政治压力，以及相对废除死刑区域内的同群效应，均会提升一国废除死刑的可能性。此外还存在党派效应：若一国行政首长所属政党秉持左翼立场，则该国废除死刑的概率会进一步升高。文化、社会与经济层面的影响因素仅能获得有限的实证支撑。若民主制度持续在全球范围内普及，且废除死刑国能够恪守承诺、在全球范围内持续推动死刑废除，则全球死刑废除的趋势将得以延续。