People will always romanticize the guillotine, it may even be a physiological issue. But the key is to not let it muddle clear minded thinking and support hap-hazard decision making policy.

Also, I would argue that the basis of this "democracy" might be a reason for the people's penchant to blood-lust. Demo's can be based on military interventionism and scapegoating people of a different type as hostile. People tend to get a little desensitized to violence after some time and therefore see solutions in a barbaric live/die scenario as way to protect their freedoms insular.