Redistribution and the New Fiscal Sociology: Race and the Progressivity of State and Local Taxes

Abstract

States redistribute wealth through two mechanisms: spending and taxation. Yet studies of the social determinants of redistribution typically focus exclusively on government spending. This article explores how one determinant of social spending—racial composition—influences preferences for, and the structure of, tax systems. First, analyses of state and local tax burden data indicate that an increasing proportion of Latinos within states is associated with more regressive tax systems. Second, evidence from a nationally representative survey experiment suggests that individual preferences for taxation may be influenced by changes in the racial composition of communities. Finally, analyses reveal that in-group solidarity is a key mechanism through which racial threat shapes preferences for taxation. In demonstrating a relationship between racial change, tax preferences, and tax structures, this article contributes to our under-standing of the determinants of redistribution as well as the broader project of the new fiscal sociology.

Gambling patterns and associated risk and protective factors among Finnish young people

“…They have been also recognised as more reliable compared to traditional survey studies, especially when studying sensitive topics ( Lee et al, 2015 ). Online panels have been increasingly used in studies published in leading sociological journals (e.g., Martin, 2009 ; O’Brien, 2017 ), and they have been widely accepted in studies investigating health and addiction from social scientific perspectives (e.g., Nieboer, Koolman, & Stolk, 2010 ; Scheuermann et al, 2015 ; Wolf, Welte, Barnes, Tidwell, & Spicer, 2015 ). In psychology, online panels have been welcomed as many of the studies have been limited to college populations ( Buhrmester, Kwang, & Gosling, 2011 ).…”

Not One but Many: Monetary Punishment and the Fergusons of America,

“…In addition, we include an indicator of citizenship to consider the percentage of residents who lack this status. Measures indicative of intergroup threat are important to include because some studies have shown ethnic change to be associated with preferences for regressive tax structures (Hopkins ; O'Brien ).…”

Racial Context and Political Support for California School Taxes

“…Scholars differ on whether this association results from generic bias, such as might arise from in-group opportunity hoarding, or from a specific bias, such as might arise from anti-black and anti-Latinx prejudice. In-group opportunity hoarding is understood as the tendency of racial or ethnic group members to vote in ways that direct public expenditures toward members of their group (O'Brien, 2017;Tilly, 1999). For example, some scholars have argued that white Americans resist policies where the benefits appear to accrue to primarily nonwhite "others" (Myers, 2007;Poterba, 1998).…”

“…At the second, policy‐choice stage, aggregate voter decisions determine the success or failure of the proposal. Prior research has documented that voters may respond to racial context at the policy‐choice stage (Fox, 2004; Hopkins, 2009; O'Brien, 2017; Wetts and Willer, 2018). By decomposing the policy process, we can investigate whether racial context also matters at the agenda‐setting stage.…”