1,720,974 research outputs found
Dynamic rare decisions: gubernatorial vetoes and the death penalty, 1999–2018 [Elektronisk resurs]
No full textFor the last two decades, the death penalty in the US has steadily declined. During this time, governors have at rare but crucial moments participated in shaping the death penalty in their respective states by issuing vetoes. Gubernatorial vetoes have in some cases been used not only to prevent abolition from occurring, but also to bar the state from enacting legislation to expand it. However, little is known about what factors influence the decision to veto these often very controversial bills. Analysis of a unique dataset of death penalty bills covering years 1999–2018 suggests that a governor’s individual attributes, as well as institutional factors, have an effect on the likelihood of a veto in the legislative context of the death penalty, with different aspects of time in office, experience and partisanship being of particular relevance.</p
Freedom of Expression and Alternatives for Internet Governance: Prospects and Pitfalls
Get PDFThis article dives into the ongoing debate on how to address concerns of personal safety and respect online, as well as consequences for exposure to polarizing and in various ways harmful information, while at the same time safeguarding the democratic essentials of freedom of expression and participation. It does so by examining the issue from a less common angle, namely who governs the Internet and the platforms where much of the toxic material appears. By applying a model of free speech regulation conceptualized by legal scholar Jack Balkin (2018a, 2018b), the article explores different theoretical future scenarios of Internet governance involving three main players, namely governments, private companies, and speakers. The analysis finds that depending on which player is at the forefront, the outcomes from the standpoint of participation and freedom of speech may be drastically different. While there is potential for transformation that can enable more ownership, transparency, and agency for citizens and news media, some potential paths will place ever-increasing control over the interests of users
Partisanship and Stability in Capital Punishment Decisions
No full textRelatively similar death-penalty eligible crimes can render drastically different outcomes in different US states. The understudied role of state supreme justices is key to understanding this issue, particularly justices' political influences. This study explores the linkage between electoral politics and judicial voting behavior, using models that include judge-related as well as case-related variables. It covers three US states and analyzes a total of 388 death penalty opinions (2,696 individual justice votes).</p
Where the fringe and mainstream meet : Discussions on vaccine hesitancy among public radio listeners on Facebook
No full textWomen State Legislators and the Death Penalty in the U.S
No full textWhile the death penalty in the U.S. is generally described as existing in a state of overall decline, legislative battles not only over whether the policy should be repealed, but also if it should be expanded, continue. Often assumed to be a battle along partisan lines, neither history nor current developments at state level provide convincing support for such an assumption. Another layer of assumptions has also been made regarding women legislators and capital punishment. Women legislators are generally caught between a perception of on the one hand, lacking the ability as lawmakers to handle the violent threat posed by crime, while on the other hand, being particularly credible due to a perceived heightened ability of caring for others and being compassionate. In practice, women legislators should thus be involved in legislation that could be considered as far too lenient, or focused primarily on only one area, such as the rights of the defendant. Capital punishment however, I argue, does not follow generalized notions on what constitutes a “women’s issue” and subsequently how women legislators handle this type of oftentimes very controversial legislation. Based upon a unique dataset comprising legislation relating to the death penalty collected from each death penalty state during the years 1999-2018, analyses of the content of bill proposals and well as patterns of women’s sponsorship of such are conducted and related to the institutional and partisan state context. Results indicate that women legislators throughout the states do indeed introduce bills with the aim of protecting vulnerable groups, yet these bills have drastically different outcomes that defy easy categorization along gender, as well as, partisan lines.</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Determinants of gubernatorial vetoes in the context of death penalty legislation
No full textWhile state legislatures have been at the center of shaping death penalty statutes during the 2000s, so have governors at rare but crucial moments. The ability to issue gubernatorial vetoes has been used not only to prevent abolition from occurring, but also to bar the state from enacting legislation to expand it. However, little is known about what factors affect the likelihood of a governor deciding to veto these often highly controversial bills. This is surprising considering the pivotal role governors can sometimes play in this context, able to grant clemencies to varying degrees and also impose death penalty moratoriums. This article examines gubernatorial vetoes in the context of death penalty legislation, assessing the extent to which institutional constraints as well as individual aspects affect the use of vetoes. Empirical analysis of a unique dataset comprised of enacted and vetoed legislation pertaining to capital punishment in 38 states from 1999 through 2018 suggest that individual attributes, and to a lesser extent institutional aspects, have an effect on the likelihood of a governor issuing a veto in the legislative context of capital punishment, but that this also greatly depends on the type of bill. I argue that both individual features and institutional design are useful when examining the many varieties of capital punishment in the U.S. and how governors participate in shaping death penalty statutes.</p
Death Penalty in Decline : Brakes and Accelerators in U.S. State Legislatures
No full textAfter reaching a peak during the 1990s, death sentences and executions havedeclined throughout the states. During this time, a steady stream of states havetaken the step to join a growing group of abolitionist states, or alternatively, have a moratorium on executions in place. In a parallel development, supportfor the death penalty among the U.S. population has equally waned. However,the trend towards a shrinking death penalty is not without its challenges. The ultimate punishment is still administered in some states, and legislation aiming to maintain the use of the death penalty continue to be proposed and enacted in state legislatures. Previous research provides a wide range of reasons explaining the current situation at state level. This compilation thesis argues that state legislatures, a hitherto less researched area in this context, play a central role in recent developments. With a lack of research on determinants for death penalty legislation, meaning both legislation that aims to limit the use ofthe death penalty and that which aims to maintain or expand it, a significant gap exists in the literature and subsequently our understanding of a declining death penalty. This thesis attempts to address this gap by contributing with fourstudies of a unique set of death penalty legislation in 38 states covering the years 1999-2018. The papers examine legislative activity in terms of both billproposals and enacted legislation, as well as the role of women legislators andthat of governors and their use of vetoes targeting death penalty legislation. Party and institutional aspects are shown to matter to the current development, but with a number of caveats depending on the type of bill and with greatdiversity between different state legislatures and their shaping of death penalty policy
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