Wolfgang Schön, a director at the MPI for Tax Law and Public Finance, delivered the prestigious Max Weber Lecture at the European University Institute in Fiesole on “Taxation and Democracy” on 11 October 2017.
The Max Weber Lecture Program aims at inviting distinguished scholars to address topical issues from an interdisciplinary perspective that will appeal to the European University Institute academic community as a whole.
In his lecture Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Wolfgang Schön assessed the validity of the principle of “no taxation without representation” in the 21st Century. Since the principle became a formative feature of modern statehood in the 18th Century, taxation and democracy seem to sit happily next to each other. This pre-stabilised harmony looks particularly convincing when the “congruence” of those who vote in fiscal matters, those who pay the taxes and those who enjoy the benefits of public spending is given. But more and more situations become visible where the democratic process in fiscal policy does not guarantee a fully acceptable outcome. On the one hand, protection of the individual taxpayer might require additional constitutional constraints, particularly in majority-minority conflicts. On the other hand, powerful private players can encroach upon the democratic process, e.g. when factor mobility and tax competition put pressure on the nation state and its policy goals in the area of redistribution and the provision of public goods. Last but not least, one can ask whether the mere existence of substantial (direct) taxation is necessary to fuel political activism and to strengthen the citizens’ identification with “their” community.
You can view the video of the lecture here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku4KbJKNUkU
Wolfgang Schön about taxation, democracy and the challenges of globalisation:
www.youtube.com/watch