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8 Peking U. L.J. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/pekulj8 and id is 1 raw text is: PEKING UNIVERSITY LAW JOURNAL 2020, VOL. 8, NO. 1, 1-41 https://doi.org/10.1080/20517483.2020.1826135 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group Chinese public opinions on death penalty: measurement, analysis and communication Genlin Liang and Eryan Chen* Peking University Law School, Beijing, People's Republic of China ABSTRACT KEYWORDS The preservation or the abolition of death penalty is an issue of public Public opinions on death policy choice justified by public recognition. Policy decisions and penalty; external system designs of death penalty should take public opinions measurement; internal seriously. Using data from more than 30,000 samples, this research analysis; leading public finds that the concept of retribution and deterrence constitutes the opinions; discourse pattern most important conceptual foundation for death penalty, upon which the majority of Chinese people are in favor of preservation of death penalty. However, the mainstream view towards death penalty has significantly changed, which suggests that the majority of Chinese people are not absolute retentionists, but either unconditional or conditional abolitionists. When appropriate alternative measures to death penalty are posed, nearly 800 retentionists will turn into abolitionists. Public opinions of death penalty are influenced by a variety of factors including self actualization, dependence of mass media, social unfair experiences, sense of security, legal awareness as well as evaluation of social problems. The discourse pattern is the most suitable pattern for China to lead public opinions towards a rational direction. According to this pattern, it is advisable to promote all-round development of human beings as well as civilization and harmony of the society, value the crucial role of political elites, establish appropriate alternative measures to death penalty and communicate with the public through mass media, so as to lay solid socio-psychological foundation for the gradual reform of death penalty in China. 1. Transformation of research paradigms: public opinions and empirical study Death penalty is an extreme penalty for deprivation of life.' Since Beccaria called into question 'whether the death penalty is really useful and just in a well-organized state' in 1764,2 the world-wide prolonged dispute on whether to preserve or abolish death penalty, centered around its justification or deterrent effect, has been cut-and-dried. As 'all reasons against death penalty correspondingly provide arguments for it',3 this dispute has still been up in the air so far. CONTACT Genlin Liang xsyth@163.com *Present address: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. 'The Criminal Law of China stipulates two implementation forms of death penalty: immediate execution and suspended execution. This article only refers to immediate execution of capital punishment, unless otherwise stated. 2Cesare Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishments and Other Writings (Richard Davies tr, CUP 1995) 66. 0 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

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