The Role of Political-Social Leaders in Modifying the Level of Public Punitiveness: A Case Study of Capital Punishment

If we think that criminal policy is influenced by public opinion as an independent and direct factor, so, the media, pressure groups, interpersonal relationships, government and socio-political leaders can be considered as the most influential factors in changing public opinion, and in particular, public opinion about punishment or public punitiveness. Despite the direct influence of the leaders of the developing governments in the progress of criminal justice, they have not been actively involved in criminal reform in Iran due to the lack of the necessary legal-political contexts and unique historical-cultural backgrounds. However, in recent years, Iran's socio-political leaders have been able to moderate the level of public interest about capital punishment by shifting the fundamental direction from death penalty to the damage inflicted by it. The findings of the present study show that, as political leaders, relying on two macro-structural models, the representatives of Islamic Parliament in Iran have prepared the public opinion to modify the death penalty for drug and psychiatric crime. First, normative assessments relying on ethical considerations, religious doctrines, and human rights requirements; and second, empirical evaluations that include lack of deterrence and recidivism rates in close relatives of the executed, emphasis on the failure of the criminal justice system and the executive to identify the main criminals and finally, highlighting the consequences of the death penalty to the families of the executed. This article seeks to explain the role of political and social leaders in moderating public punitiveness - specifically the death penalty - by emphasizing on how public opinion is changed by political and social leaders.