Politics and Taxation

Abstract

Taxes and politics go hand in hand. Political scientists, political party activists, and elected officials have long been convinced there is a close relationship between economic conditions and individual voting behavior, especially in presidential contests. Besides class, an individual’s political party affiliation and ideology temper the impact of economic events and situations on their votes for specific candidates. Microeconomic models are more commonly used by political scientists; macroeconomic models by economists. In addition to leadership, skillful “sales jobs” are necessary to “cast redistributive schemes in specious, politically acceptable forms”. The aging of the American population is already changing the face of taxation politics, especially in states with large concentrations of retirees. Differential taxing laws across states, especially as they pertain to businesses, periodically “force” one state to sue another or a state to sue the federal government to settle the matter. Media coverage of tax battles often takes on the same “horse race” character as electoral contests.