DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Tax Revolt and the Transformation of American Politics, 1968-1992

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Sociological theories and studies of the welfare state did much to explain its unprecedented growth after World War II, but now face another challenge. They need to account for the current period of crisis, retrenchment, and limits to growth as well as for previous periods of increasing state capacity. This project addresses this challenge using the methods of comparative historical sociology. Concentrating on the tax revolt in the U.S. during the 1970s that led to a series of dramatic legislative victories, it considers why the movement emerged when it did, what it did to gain initial policy success, and how it affected later political debates about taxes and welfare policy. The methods used involve analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data. First, the project compares the grassroots protests in the United States with those in Denmark, and compares both to the lack of such protests in Sweden and Britain. Second, it compares the varied movement success in California, New York, and Massachusetts. Third, it uses quantitative event history analyses to explore the adoption of anti-tax legislation in 27 of 50 states. The results show how the initial policy success of the tax revolt changed the direction of American politics and the effectiveness of later challenges to tax policy.