Democracy’s Invisible Savior: Why Citizens Should Welcome Taxes with Open Arms

Abstract

This article aims to understand the transformative power that the fiscal requirement to impose taxation has on democratization. An exploration into the fiscal development of early modern Europe alongside modern empirical examples, demonstrates the value of taxation as a solution to leaderships that don’t represent their people. It’s reasoned that the confluence of taxation and democracy can be attributed to two distinct mechanisms. One, that the government is more willing to compromise to the peoples’ demands, and two, that the people are more willing to demand this compromise. The latter is of particular significance in suggesting the role that behavioral phenomena play in inflaming democratic engagement. Critically, the behavioral effects of taxation should take more of a leading role in policies that pursue democratization whilst aid, more of a support role.