Taxation in Utopia

Tools

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

Full text not available from this repository.

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 (former - to 2024)
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:	24 Sep 2024 09:32
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/10334
DOI:

Actions (login required)

View Item