Open Journal Systems

Democracy, fundamental rights and public finance: a constitutionalist criticism of the Steuerle-Roeper Index

Francisco Mata Machado Tavares

Resumo


The article proposes to critically discuss the concept of fiscal democracy as operationalized by the means of the Steuerle-Roeper Index. It is assumed that the contemporary sociohistorical context comprises a scenario of crisis or decline of democracies, largely explained by the fiscal difficulties faced by the States. The Fiscal Democracy Index is discussed as a promising scientific contribution for the attribution of empirical tangibility to such a reality. However, a difficulty is identified concerning the non-consideration of fundamental rights as condition for the possibility of democratic politics. Finally, an example from the Brazilian constitutional system is presented in order to illustrate the article´s theoretical argument. 

Palavras-chave


fundamental rights; fiscal democracy; fiscal rigidity; Steuerle-Roeper Index; constitutionalist criticism.

Texto completo:

PDF (English)

Referências


BACKHAUS, Jürgen G. Fiscal Sociology: What for? In: BACKHAUS, Jürgen G.; WAGNER, Richard E (Org.). Handbook of Public Finance. London: Springer, 2002.

BASKARAN, Tushyantan. Taxation and Democratization. World Development, [s.l.], vol. 56, issue C, p. 287-301, 2014.

BIN, Daniel. Macroeconomic Policies and Economic Democracy in Neoliberal Brazil. Ecomomia e Sociedade, Campinas, vol. 24, n. 33, p. 513-539, 2015.

CROUCH, Collin. Post-Democracy. Cambridge: Polity press, 2004.

DELLA PORTA, Donatella. Social movements in times of austerity: bringing capitalism back into protest analysis. Cambridge: Polity press, 2015.

DIETSCH, Peter; RIXEN, Thomas. Tax Competition and Global Background Justice. In: GOODIN, Robert E.; FISHKIN, James S. (Org.). Political Theory Without Borders. Sussex: Willey, 2016.

DOWNS, Anthony Downs. An Economic Theory of Democracy. New York: Harper & Row, 1957.

DOWNS, Anthony. Why the Government Budget is too Small in a Democracy. World Politics, [s.l.], vol. 12, n. 4, p. 541-563, 1960.

ELIAS, Norbert. The Civilizing Process: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2000.

GENSCHEL, Philipp; SCHWARZ, Peter. Tax Competition and Fiscal Democracy. In: STREECK, W; SCHÄFER, A. (Org.). Politics in the Age of Austerity. Cambridge: Polity, 2013, p. 59-83.

GOLDSCHEID, Rudolf. A Sociological Approach to Problems of Public Finance. In: MUSGRAVE, Richard; PEACOCK, Alan T (Org.). Classics in the Theory of Public Finance. London: MacMillan, 1958.

HABERMAS, Jürgen. Between Facts and Norms: contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996.

HABERMAS, Jürgen. Concluding comments on empirical approaches to deliberative politics. Acta Politica, [s.l.], vol. 40, p. 384-392, 2005.

HABERMAS, Jürgen. Legitimation Crisis. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1992.

HABERMAS, Jürgen. The Inclusion of The Other: Studies in Political Theory. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1998.

HABERMAS, Jürgen. The Lure of Technocracy. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2015.

HABERMAS, Jürgen. The Theory of Communicative Action. vol. 1: Reason and Rationalization of Society. Boston: Beacon Press, 1984.

HABERMAS, Jürgen. The Theory of Communicative Action. vol. 2: Lifeworld and System. Boston: Beacon Press, 1987.

HAY, Colin. Why We Hate Politics. Cambridge: Polity, 2007.

HIRSCHL, Ran. “Negative" Rights vs. "Positive" Entitlements: A Comparative Study of Judicial Interpretations of Rights in an Emerging Neo-Liberal Economic Order. Human Rights Quarterly, [s.l.], vol. 22, n. 4, p. 1060-1098, 2000.

HOFFMAN, Phillip T; NORBERG, Kathryn Norberg. Fiscal Crises, Liberty and Representative Government: 1450-1789. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1994.

HOLMES, Stephen. Passions and Constraints: On the Theory of Liberal Democracy Chicago: Chicago UP, 1995.

HOLMES, Stephen; SUNSTEIN, Cass. The Cost of Rights: why liberty depends on taxes. New York: Norton & Company, 1999.

LOCKE, John. Second Treatise of Government. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1980.

MARTIN, Isaac Willian; MHEROTRA. Ajay K; PRASAD; Monica. The Thunder of History. In: MARTIN, Isaac Willian; MHEROTRA. Ajay K; PRASAD; Monica (Org.). The New Fiscal Sociology: Taxation in Comparative and Historical Perspective. New York: Cambridge UP, 2009.

MURPHY, Liam; NAGEL, Thomas Nagel. The Myth of Ownership: taxes and justice, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

OBER, Josiah. The Original Meaning of “Democracy: Capacity to Do Things, not Majority Rule”. Constellations, [s.l.], vol. 15, n. 1, p. 3-9, 2008.

OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). Harmful Tax Competition: an emerging global issue, 1998, disponível em Acesso em 10/09/2018.

OFFE, Claus. Participatory Inequality in the Austerity State: a supply side approach. In: SCHÄFER, Armin & STREECK, Wolfgang (Org.). Politics in the age of austerity. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.

OFFE, Claus. Theses on the Theory of the State. In: KEANE, John (Org.). Contradictions of the Welfare State. London: Hutchinson, 1984.

PIERSON, Paul. Coping With Permanent Austerity Welfare State restructuring in Affluent Democracies. In: PIERSON, Paul (Org.). The New Politics of the Welfare State. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

PISTOR, Katharina. The Code of Capital: how the law creates wealth and inequality. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019.

RAWLS, John. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge: Belknap Press, Harvard University Press 1999.

RAWLS, John. Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

SCHÄFFER, Armin; STREECK, Wolfgang. Introduction: Politics in the Age of Austerity. In SCHÄFFER, Armin; STREECK, Wolfgang (Org.). Politics in the Age of Austerity. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.

SCHUMPETER, J. The Crisis of the Tax State. In: SWEDEBERG, Richard (Org.). Joseph A. Schumpeter: The Economics and Sociology of Capitalism. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1991.

SCHUMPETER, Joseph A. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. New York: Harper Perennial, 2008.

SHAPIRO, Ian. The State of Democratic Theory. In: KATZNELSON, Ira; MLNER, Helen V. (Org.). Political Science: State of the Discipline. New York: Norton, 2002.

SPAGNOL, Werther Botelho. As Contribuições Sociais no Direito Brasileiro. Rio de Janeiro: Forense, 2002.

STEUERLE, Eugene C. Dead Men Ruling: How to Restore Fiscal Freedom and Rescue our Future. New York: The Century Foundation Press, 2014.

STEUERLE, Eugene. Restoring Fiscal Democracy. The Milken Institute Review, 1st Quarter, 2016, p. 26-35. Disponível em: https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/80326/2000781-Restoring-Fiscal-Democracy.pdf. Acesso em: 10 de julho de 2017.

STREECK, Wolfgang Streeck. Buying Time: The Delayed Crisis of Democratic Capitalism. London: Verso, 2014.

STREECK, Wolfgang; MERTENS, Daniel. An Index of Fiscal Democracy, MPIFG Working Paper, [s.l.], vol. 10, n. 03, abr. 2010.

STREECK, Wolfgang; MERTENS, Daniel. Public Finance and the Decline of State Capacity in Democratic Capitalism. In: SCHÄFER, Armin & STREECK, Wolfgang (Org.). Politics in the age of austerity. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.

TILLY, Charles Tilly. Extraction and Democracy. In: MARTIN, Isaac Willian; MHEROTRA. Ajay K; PRASAD; Monica (Org.). The New Fiscal Sociology: Taxation in Comparative and Historical Perspective. New York: Cambridge UP, 2009.

TILLY, Charles. Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

TILLY, Charles. State, Taxes and Proletarians, CRSO Working Papers, [s.l.], vol. 213, 1980.

WALDRON, Jeremy. Liberal Rights: Collected Papers 1981-1999. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5380/rinc.v8i1.72768

Apontamentos

  • Não há apontamentos.