Democratic Choice and Taxation: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

by Walter Hettich, Stanley L. Winer

The authors examine how tax policies and tax systems arise out of democratic choices. The emphasis on voting behavior sets their work apart from other research on public finance. They find that democratic institutions yield tax systems that follow predictable patterns. The analysis is applied to the United States in a general equilibrium model. Theory is also linked to fact through statistical research on national and state governments in the U.S. and Canada. In addition, the authors discuss how to evaluate the efficiency of taxation in a framework that includes voting choices and review the related literature.

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First published February 13, 1999