Building Leviathan: revenue, state capacity and governance

摘要

These are the rights which make the essence of sovereignty:... The power to protect his subjects... [the power] of execution of the laws...the power of raising money. (Thomas Hobbes, The Leviathan 1651). Raising revenue is the most basic task of thestate. Before a state can protect its citizens, before it can provide justice or administer a bureaucracy, it needs to raise money. Through its key role as the tie that binds the ruler and the ruled, taxation supports representation, accountability, andstate capacity. Yet taxation and revenue are rarely mentioned as democracy and governance issues in developing countries. A concern with taxation should be at the core of development efforts, yet it is not.