Prejudice and Unpredictability in the Death Penalty - Dissertation Example

While it remains true to assert that the majority of the American public advocates the death penalty, it is as well factual that backing for the death penalty is very much provisional. The paramount information on public advocacy for the death penalty originates from Gallup Polls, and ever since the advent of the 1980s these reviews have consistently discovered that roughly three-quarters of the overall population of the United States support the death penalty. ‘In 1991, Gallup found that 76% of Americans favored the death penalty; in 1994 support had reached 80%’ (Gallup & Newport, 1991, 44).

More current figures suggest that public support for the death penalty has dramatically increased, and even dwindled slightly in recent years. By 1999, support for capital punishment had dropped to 71%. State polls in California, Texas, and Florida—the states with the highest number of prisoners on their death rows—further suggest that death penalty support has peaked. In California, a 1997 Field Poll found that support for the death penalty had dropped to 74% from a 1985 peak of 83%.

In Texas, a 1998 Scripps Howard Poll found that support for the death penalty stood at 68%, down 18 points since 1994. A 1998 Florida poll conducted by the New York Times Regional Newspapers also found that 68% favored the death penalty; a second 1998 Florida poll done by Mason/Dixon registered support at 63%. Hence, the most important concern is the factors that determine these patterns of support.