Who Should Pay? Tax Preferences during Economic Crises

• In Event: 066 - Section on Political Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Opinion

Abstract

The Great Recession has prompted scholars to return to issues of how economic decline affects attitudes toward the welfare state. However, this attention has focused almost exclusively on spending preferences, leaving questions over revenue preferences unanswered. This study expands the scope of inquiry to examine how economic conditions influence tax preferences. Three alternative hypotheses are tested: progressive taxation, regressive taxation, and class politics. Analyses based on repeated cross-sectional data from 12 countries provide clear support for the class politics hypothesis. Individuals respond to economic decline by engaging in economic competition, with the more affluent supporting a more regressive tax structure and the less affluent supporting a more progressive tax structure. Supplemental analyses indicate that the results are not limited to the American context—suggesting economic downturns can stimulate class politics across advanced capitalist democracies. The implications of the findings for fiscal sociology, welfare state scholarship, and democratic politics are discussed in conclusion.

Author

• Kyle Dodson, University of California-Merced