Republican Party-Building and Anti-Tax Policies

Abstract

Our tax politics and policies are startlingly different than a generation ago. We have lost the balanced budget consensus and low levels of politicization tax policy used to receive. While some might point to exogenous economic factors, or ideational ones, the biggest driver of this shift is Republican party-building efforts. Looking at all major tax-cutting bills passed by Congress, the GOP shifts to an anti-tax position in 1978 and experiences remarkably few defections since. This paper uses mixed methods and multiple institutional settings (Congress and the Presidency) to investigate this phenomenon. The Presidential investigation includes party platforms (a critical juncture towards anti-tax policies is observed in 1980) as well as election materials for any credible challenge to this new orthodoxy. In keeping with the conference theme of representation, some NES data is also employed. Interestingly, not only does the impression of wasted taxes skyrocket after the late 1970s, but Republicans in the electorate become more concerned about this notion — but markedly more so when a Democrat holds the White House. Archival investigations also highlight the party-building strategy as it unfolds: the 1964 and 1981 cuts are used as case studies. It appears that the GOP has built a seemingly disparate coalition around a single issue — tax politics.