Most countries around the world have **abolished** the death penalty; meaning they *used* to have it, but have banned it, with bans generally coming into force from the 1970s-1990s. These days even countries which do allow a death penalty rarely use it.
When people discuss the pros and cons of the death penalty today, they generally argue in absolutist terms, e.g.: the risk of executing innocents, that the state shouldn’t kill its own citizens, lifetime incarceration is worse than the release of death etc. But clearly historical societies felt the death penalty *was* appropriate. So what changed in the mid-to-late 20th century to make countries favour abolishment?
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The death penalty has long been a tool of those that impose it to get rid of troublesome people. It was also practical as their wasn’t really alternatives (like jail, garnishing wages, etc.).
It’s bad form in western democracies to kill people that bother you, and we have lots of exciting and effective ways to punish people without it.
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