Is the Death Penalty Debate Really Dead? Contrasting Capital Punishment Support in Canada and the United States

Abstract For decades, capital punishment has been a highly divisive topic. Today, most democratic governments have done away with capital punishment, with few exceptions which include the United States. Drawing from the Canadian Election Study (2015) and the American National Election Study (2016), this article explores the underlying value systems that shape contemporary pro‐death penalty opinions in Canada and in the United States. Findings suggest that, in both countries, pro‐death penalty attitudes should be better understood as part of a “law and order syndrome.” In the United States, the distribution of attitudes toward death penalty is also the reflection of a partisan divide. Our results also support the hypothesis that government distrust increases death penalty support in Canada.