The earliest mentions of the usage of the execution as the form of punishment, date to the Code of Hammurabi.5 The name of the term "capital punishment" is derived from the Latin "capitalis", meaning "head"6, which is self-explanatory, considering the fact that most common form of execution was beheading. However, as the history progressed, newer methods had been applied, involving burning, hanging, drowning, crucifixion, boiling to death, electrocution, firing squad, gassing – the list can be continued. The choice of a particular method in Europe in the Middle Age, for instance, depended on the social status of the condemned. Painless and respectable ways were reserved for the aristocracy; and more painful for the common people, such as hanging or breaking on the wheel. In other cases, the choice of the method was warranted by the time of crime: witches and heretics had to be burned at the stake. The French Revolution introduced a more "humane" execution method – the guillotine. Death sentence was once used on the wide variety of crime, including petty theft, even if nobody was physically hurt. As mentioned before it is death penalty is one of the controversial topics and the matter of debate.
The presidential government is one of the three main government types, alongside with the parliamentary and semi-presidential forms. Unlike the latter two cases, the president is a dominant figure, as well as the head of the state.1Almost always, presidential elections take the form of the direct vote of the people and the candidate can run for a limited number of terms. This kind of government is usually divided into three branches (the executive, the legislative and the judicial) and thanks to a system of checks and balances, each of them has some autonomy, but at the same time controls and is controlled by the other two. The main advantage of the presidential government, is the fact that it can be much more effective in terms of making decision. However because president has so much power, there is often a high risk of authoritarianism.
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