Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T15:27:10.569Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Conscription of Wealth: Mass Warfare and the Demand for Progressive Taxation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2010

Kenneth Scheve  and
David Stasavage
Kenneth Scheve
Affiliation:
Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy at Yale University, New Haven. E-mail: kenneth.scheve@yale.edu
David Stasavage
Affiliation:
New York University, New York. E-mail: david.stasavage@nyu.edu.
Get access

Abstract

The dominant narrative of the politics of redistribution in political science and economics highlights the signature role of the rise of electoral democracy and the development of political parties that mobilize working-class groups. We argue in this article that this narrative ignores the critical role played by mass warfare in the development of redistributive public policies. Focusing attention on the determinants of progressive taxation, we argue that mobilization for mass warfare led to demands for increased taxation of the wealthy to more fairly distribute the burden for the war effort. We then show empirically that during the past century, mass mobilization for war has been associated with a notable increase in tax progressivity. In the absence of war, neither the establishment of universal suffrage, nor the arrival of political control by parties of the left is systematically associated with large increases in tax progressivity. In making these arguments, we devote particular attention to a “difference-in-differences” comparison of participants and nonparticipants in World War I.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Organization , Volume 64 , Issue 4 , October 2010 , pp. 529 - 561
Copyright
Copyright © The IO Foundation 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A.. 2000. Why Did the West Extend the Franchise? Democracy, Inequality, and Growth in Historical Perspective. Quarterly Journal of Economics 115 (4):1167–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A.. 2008. Persistence of Power, Elites, and Institutions. American Economic Review 98 (1):267–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alesina, Alberto, and Angeletos, George-Marios. 2005. Fairness and Redistribution. American Economic Review 95 (4):960–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alstott, Anne, and Novick, Benjamin. 2006. War, Taxes, and Income Redistribution in the Twenties: The 1924 Veterans' Bonus and the Defeat of the Mellon Plan. Public Law Working Paper No. 109. New Haven, Conn.: Yale Law School.Google Scholar
Andre, Carl-Göran. 1975. The Swedish Labor Movement and the 1917–1918 Revolution. In Sweden's Development from Poverty to Affluence, 1750–1970, edited by Koblik, StevenJohnson, translated by Joanne, 232–53. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Aristotle. 1948. The Politics of Aristotle. Edited and translated by Barker, Ernest. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Atkinson, Anthony B. 2007. The Distribution of Top Incomes in the United Kingdom 1908–2000. In Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast Between Continental European and English-Speaking Countries, edited by Atkinson, Anthony and Piketty, Thomas, 82–140. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, Anthony B., and Piketty, Thomas. 2007. Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast Between Continental European and English-Speaking Countries. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berinsky, Adam J. 2006. Public Opinion in the 1930s and 1940s: The Analysis of Quota-Controlled Sample Survey Data. Public Opinion Quarterly 70 (4):499–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Besley, Timothy, and Persson, Torsten. 2009. The Origins of State Capacity: Property Rights, Taxation, and Politics. American Economic Review 99 (4):1218–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boix, Carles. 2003. Democracy and Redistribution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowley, Arthur. 1930. Some Economic Consequences of the Great War. London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Campbell, Andrea. Forthcoming.How Americans Think About Taxes: Public Opinion and the American Fiscal State. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Caramani, Daniele. 2000. Elections in Western Europe Since 1815: Electoral Results by Constituencies. London: Macmillan Reference.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrigan, D. Owen. 1968. Canadian Party Platforms 1867–1968. Canada: Copp Clark.Google Scholar
Dale, Iain. 2000. Labour Party General Election Manifestos, 1900–1997. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Daunton, M. J. 1996. How to Pay for the War: State, Society and Taxation in Britain, 1917–24. English Historical Review 111 (443):882–919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flora, Peter. 1983. State, Economy, and Society in Western Europe 1815–1975: A Data Handbook in Two Volumes. Chicago: St. James.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gagarin, Michael, and Woodruff, Paul. 1995. Early Greek Political Thought from Homer to the Sophists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grotard, Sandrine. 1996. Le Premier Impôt sur les Bénefices d'Entreprises en France. La Contribution Extraordinaire sur les Bénéfices de Guerre. Etudes et Documents, Comité pour l'Histoire Economique et Financière de la France VIII:259–80.Google Scholar
Gruber, Jonathan, and Saez, Emmanuel. 2002. The Elasticity of Taxable Income: Evidence and Implications. Journal of Public Economics 84 (1):1–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicks, John R., Hicks, Ursula K., and Rostas, L.. 1942. The Taxation of War Wealth. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Hintze, Otto. 1975 [1906]. Military Organization and the Organization of the State. In The Historical Essays of Otto Hintze, edited by Gilbert, Felix, 178–215. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kennan, Kossuth Kent. 1910. Income Taxation: Methods and Results in Various Countries. Milwaukee, Wis.: Burdick and Allen.Google Scholar
Kuczynski, R. R. 1923. German Taxation Policy in the World-War. Journal of Political Economy 31 (6):763–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levi, Margaret. 1997. Consent, Dissent, and Patriotism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindert, Peter H. 2004. Growing Public. 1, Social Spending and Economic Growth Since the Eighteenth Century.New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mackie, Thomas T., and Rose, Richard. 1974. The International Almanac of Electoral History. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Marwick, Arthur. 1965. The Deluge: British Society and the First World War. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Maurer, John H. 1995. The Outbreak of the First World War: Strategic Planning, Crisis Decisionmaking, and Deterrence Failure. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Brian R. 2003a. International Historical Statistics: Africa, Asia & Oceania, 1750–2000. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Brian R. 2003b. International Historical Statistics: The Americas, 1750–2000. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Brian R. 2007. International Historical Statistics: Europe, 1750–2005. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Murphy, Liam, and Nagel, Thomas. 2002. The Myth of Ownership: Taxes and Justice. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musgrave, R. A. 1985. A Brief History of Fiscal Doctrine. In Handbook of Public Economics, I, edited by Auerbach, Alan J. and Feldstein, Martin, 1–60. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.Google Scholar
Peacock, Alan, and Wiseman, Jack. 1961. The Growth of Public Expenditure in the United Kingdom. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Perry, J. Harvey. 1955. Taxes, Tariffs, and Subsidies: A History of Canadian Fiscal Development. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piketty, Thomas. 2001. Les hauts revenus en France au XXème siècle. Paris: Grasset.Google Scholar
Piketty, Thomas. 2003. Income Inequality in France, 1901–1998. Journal of Political Economy 111 (5):1004–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robin, Martin. 1966. Registration, Conscription, and Independent Labour Politics, 1916–1917. Canadian Historical Review, 47 (2):101–18. Reprinted in Conscription 1917: Essays 1969. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saez, Emmanuel, and Veall, Michael. 2007. The Evolution of High Incomes in Canada, 1920–2000. In Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast Between Continental and English-Speaking Countries, edited by Atkinson, Anthony Barnes and Piketty, Thomas, 226–308. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuel, Herbert. 1919. The Taxation of the Various Classes of the People. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 82 (2):143–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seligman, Edwin R. A. 1908. Progressive Income Taxation in Theory and Practice. American Economic Association Quarterly, 3d series, 9 (4):1–334.Google Scholar
Seligman, Edwin R. A. 1911. The Income Tax: A Study of the History, Theory, and Practice of Income Taxation at Home and Abroad. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Shiomi, Saburo. 1957. Japan's Finance and Taxation, 1940–1956. Translated by Hasegawa, Shotaro. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shirras, Findlay, and Rostas, L.. 1943. The Burden of British Taxation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sidgwick, Henry. 1883. The Principles of Political Economy. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Skocpol, Theda. 1995. Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Mapheus. 1947. Population Characteristics of American Servicemen in World War II. Scientific Monthly 65 (3):246–52.Google Scholar
Sprague, O. M. W. 1917. The Conscription of Income a Sound Basis for War Finance. Economic Journal 27 (105):1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinmo, Sven. 1993. Taxation and Democracy: Swedish, British, and American Approaches to Financing the Modern State. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Steinmo, Sven. 2003. The Evolution of Policy Ideas: Tax Policy in the 20th Century. British Journal of Politics and International Relations 5 (2):206–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ticchi, Davide, and Vindigni, Andrea. 2008. War and Endogenous Democracy. IZA Discussion Paper No. 3397. Available at ⟨http://works.bepress.com/davideticchi/7⟩. Accessed 22 June 2010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 1990. Coercion, Capital, and European States: A.D. 990–1990. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Titmuss, Richard M. 1958. War and Social Policy. In Essays on the Welfare State, 75–85. London: George Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
van Zanden, Jan Luiten. 1997. Old Rules, New Conditions, 1914–1940. In Financial History of the Netherlands, edited by Hart, Marjolein 't, Jonker, Joost, and van Zanden, Jan Luiten, 124–51. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar