The Leap of Faith

Sven Steinmo is Research Professor at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), the European University Institute . He has published in a wide range of fields including political economy, comparative politics, American political development, economics, psychology, public policy, and evolutionary theory. His first book was awarded the Riker Prize for the Best Book in Political Economy by the APSA. His most recent book, The Evolution of the Modern State, was awarded the Gunnar Myrdal Prize for best book in Evolutionary Political Economy by the European Association for Evolutionary Economics.

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Why are citizens in some countries more willing to pay taxes than in other countries? This book examines the history of the relationship between citizens and their states in five countries, (Sweden, Britain, Italy, Romania, and the United States), and demonstrates how and why people in in some countries have come to trust the government with their money while in other countries they do not. The book explores the evolution of this relationship in detail, in each case showing how some governments developed the fiscal and technical capacity to tax their citizens fairly and deliver public services efficiently. In short, how and why some countries became more trustworthy than others. The volume concludes by examining the implications of these five cases for developing countries today and the lessons that can be learned.

This book examines the history of the relationship between taxpayers and their states, and demonstrates how and why some governments have become more trustworthy than others.