Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Sangmin Bae
Abstract
The United States is the only Western democracy that still practices the death penalty, and legal scholars, domestic politics scholars, and comparativists have written extensively about American capital punishment. In this thesis, I will synthesize this scholarship to present a multifaceted explanation for America’s uniquely continued use of the death penalty through Kenneth Waltz’s three “images” or levels of analysis. While Waltz’s three levels of analysis is an established theory in the field of international relations (IR), the utilization of IR theory for an analysis of American capital punishment is particularly enriching because death penalty abolition is a norm in contemporary, Western democratic international politics. Waltz’s theory thus provides a relevant framework and set of explanatory categories: elected officials at the individual level, decentralized federalism at the state level, and geopolitical strength at the international level.
Recommended Citation
Tracy, Anika, "Why does the U.S. still practice the death penalty? An application of Waltz's Three Images" (2026). University Honors Program Senior Projects. 76.
https://neiudc.neiu.edu/uhp-projects/76