Some scholars believe that the polls cited as showing support for executions are being misread. What these polls really show, they argue, is that the public favors having the death penalty on the books as a potential deterrent—not that the public actually wants criminals put to death. In one 1986 Gallup Poll, for example, 70 percent of respondents said they supported the death penalty for murder. But when the same respondents were presented with an alternative punishment, the figure fell to 55 percent. Other surveys have shown even more precipitous drop-offs.