“Lightly taxed, the citizenry only weakly demands representation in government, thereby stunting the development of democratic institutions and attenuating political accountability” Is this always true? One could argue that when taxes are higher, citizens feel they can demand more accountability. But the mere existence of taxes should be enough to for citizens to demand political accountability. When taxes are zero, then there would be zero demand for accountability, but I don’t think the relation between taxation and political accountability is linearly proportional. When citizens are aware that the government has extra nontax revenue, it feels it can demand more public services and accountability, without higher taxes, in particular because the resource belongs to the populace. So perhaps transparency affects demand for political accountability? In regards to the spending effect as proposed by Ross, how does it explain the existence of authoritarian populist states and the resource curse? Granted I can only think of Venezuela (whose democratic standing is arguable either way). But one of the reasons why Chavez has been so successful in staying in power and undertaking various authoritative measures is because of oil. Meanwhile, the elite has fled Venezuela, taking their funds with them.
I've posted my paper on courseworks, albeit later than I had intended.
ReplyDelete“Lightly taxed, the citizenry only weakly demands representation in government, thereby stunting the development of democratic institutions and attenuating political accountability”
ReplyDeleteIs this always true? One could argue that when taxes are higher, citizens feel they can demand more accountability. But the mere existence of taxes should be enough to for citizens to demand political accountability. When taxes are zero, then there would be zero demand for accountability, but I don’t think the relation between taxation and political accountability is linearly proportional. When citizens are aware that the government has extra nontax revenue, it feels it can demand more public services and accountability, without higher taxes, in particular because the resource belongs to the populace. So perhaps transparency affects demand for political accountability?
In regards to the spending effect as proposed by Ross, how does it explain the existence of authoritarian populist states and the resource curse? Granted I can only think of Venezuela (whose democratic standing is arguable either way). But one of the reasons why Chavez has been so successful in staying in power and undertaking various authoritative measures is because of oil. Meanwhile, the elite has fled Venezuela, taking their funds with them.