Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries Capacity and Consent [Paperback]

Explains why taxation is a vital topic in explaining weak government in the poorer world.There is a widespread concern about governments which are unable to exercise effective authority. This book explains why taxation is a vital topic in explaining weak government in the poorer world, and provides a wide variety of cases from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.There is a widespread concern about governments which are unable to exercise effective authority. This book explains why taxation is a vital topic in explaining weak government in the poorer world, and provides a wide variety of cases from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.There is a widespread concern that, in some parts of the world, governments are unable to exercise effective authority. When governments fail, more sinister forces thrive: warlords, arms smugglers, narcotics enterprises, kidnap gangs, terrorist networks, armed militias. Why do governments fail? This book explores an old idea that has returned to prominence: that authority, effectiveness, accountability and responsiveness is closely related to the ways in which governments are financed. It matters that governments tax their citizens rather than live from oil revenues and foreign aid, and it matters how they tax them. Taxation stimulates demands for representation, and an effective revenue authority is the central pillar of state capacity. Using case studies from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, this book presents and evaluates these arguments, updates theories derived from European history in the light of conditions in contemporary poorer countries, and draws conclusions for policy-makers.1. Introduction: taxation and state-building in developing countries Deborah Br?utigam; 2. Between coercion and contract: competing narratives on taxation and governance Mick Moore; 3. Capacity, consent and tax collection in post-communist states Gerald M. Easter; 4. Taxation and coercion in rural China Thomas P. BernlCo