Taxation in Utopia

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Goodwin, Barbara (2008) Taxation in Utopia. Utopian Studies, 19 (2). pp. 313-331. ISSN 2154-9648

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Abstract

Utopias of the right and the left offer different justifications for taxation and propose different tax systems. Here, utopian proposals are analysed and evaluated from two perspectives: the "ideal" form of taxation (visible, equitable, and non-avoidable), and the democratic perspective (would people willingly consent to it?). Pre-taxation, favoured by left-wing utopias, raises problems from a democratic standpoint while right-wing utopias assert that taxation must be voluntary but are over-confident that "voluntary government financing" would provide a safety-net for poorer members of society. In the conclusion, I argue that there is more at stake than the left/right dispute. The different attitudes to utopian taxation are indicative of markedly different conceptions of society

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies
Related URLs:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/20719904
Depositing User:	EPrints Services
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2010 13:58
Last Modified:	10 Aug 2023 13:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/10334
DOI:

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