Support for the Death Penalty Reinstatement as a Protest Attitude: The Role of Political Trust

Abstract

This study aims at examining political trust, protest attitude and death penalty support among people of Pakistan. The cross-sectional survey research design allows for using quantitative data collected through the survey and secondary data use mixed method to test the hypothesis that political trust in institutions and protest participation will significantly predict attitudes towards capital punishment. The results confirm that people with low levels of political trust are more likely to approve of the death penalty because for them violent measures are inevitable due to political turmoil and insecurity. Moreover, participants of political protest exhibit higher support for capital punishment, thus bearing relations between political activism and myriad punishment. The research also finds that political factors have great influence on the opinions of the people, where right-wing political supporters and people of rural area have higher percentage of supporting death penalty. In the broader setting of political science, this study adds to knowledge regarding the relationship between political trust and policy preferences in a developing democracy especially in an acutely polarized society such as that of Pakistan. The study also highlights the need for a political makeover in relation to demanding for open and accountable system of government in a bid to demoralize discontent and rejection of authoritarianism. The study offers practical recommendations for policymakers since it indicates the need to restore people’s confidence in political institutions and promoting the political system’s comprehensiveness and openness to prevent the population from shifting toward increased punitiveness. It is suggested to conduct future studies to examine whether political trust is associated with other social factors, including religious beliefs and economic disparity to identify the Pakistan public policy preferences.