Gender Equality and State Executions Within and Across 100 Countries From 1997 to 2010

Abstract

The achievement of gender equality requires strong support from the state and changes, in turn, the behavior of the state in both domestic and international arenas. Research suggests that an increased representation of women in government provides more ethical governance as well as greater state pacifism in international conflicts. While research has shown that women are more likely than men to oppose death penalty, no study has examined the influence of women’s representation in government on executions carried out by the state. Using a modified negative binomial random-effects model, this study examines gender equality as a predictor of executions and fills the growing need for longitudinal analysis of executions by using data from 100 countries over 14 years. The results indicate that increases in women’s representation in parliament are negatively associated with executions over time and are conditioned by the level of democracy between countries.