公众认同、政治抉择与死刑控制

限制和废除死刑已经成为席卷全球的当代刑事政策运动与刑罚改革潮流。死刑的存废、去留 ,并不取决于其自身无法辩明的正义性 (或非正义性 )以及无法证实或证伪的威慑性。它在根本上是一个受集体意识的公众认同以及政治领袖的政治意志左右的政策选择问题。集体意识对死刑的广泛认同为死刑制度提供了正当性和合法性资源 ,但集体意识具有两面性 ,是交织着理智与情感、意识与潜意识、理性与非理性、正义与非正义的矛盾统一体。政治领袖要尊重与反映民意 ,更应当善解与引导民意 ,运用政治智慧 ,作出科学的死刑决策 ,使死刑政策。

It has become a global tide to limit and abolish the death penalty in modern criminal policy movement. The preservation or the abolition of the death penalty doesn't rely on the justice/injustice or the overawing of itself, which are unable to be argued clearly. Rather, this is an issue of policy choice decided substantially by the public recognition of collective consciousness and the political will of political leaders. The general recognition of collective consciousness has provides legitimate resource to the death penalty, yet the collective consciousness is a contradictory being with 2 sides, such as sense and sensibility, conscious and sub-conscious, rationality and irrationality, justice and injustice interlaced. Political leaders should respect and reflect the public opinions, still, be good at understanding and leading public opinions, thus to make scientific decisions about death penalty with their political wisdoms, making the death penalty policy, death penalty system and the application of death penalty become a rational practice and a practical rationality.