IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/indpol/v10y2022i2p201-213.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Taxation and Accountability in Local Government: A Democratic Deficit in Andhra Pradesh

Author

Listed:
  • Carolyn Elliott

Abstract

This study looks at the vibrancy of local democracy through linkages between local tax collection and accountability: When villagers pay taxes to the village panchayat are they more likely to hold the panchayat accountable? Fifty villages in Andhra Pradesh were surveyed through 500 structured interviews. The study found that in the low-tax environment where panchayats generally follow government-established minimum tax rates, the level of taxation is not politically salient and has no acknowledged impact on panchayat elections. Tax-paying villagers are more likely to participate in the panchayat when residents have connections to outside parties and officials. Except in questions regarding the fairness of internal distributions of works and services, panchayats appear more as the lowest end of the state system than as local democracies. Local government in Andhra Pradesh has a democratic deficit.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolyn Elliott, 2022. "Taxation and Accountability in Local Government: A Democratic Deficit in Andhra Pradesh," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 10(2), pages 201-213, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:indpol:v:10:y:2022:i:2:p:201-213
    DOI: 10.1177/23210230221135826
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23210230221135826
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/23210230221135826?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucie Gadenne, 2017. "Tax Me, but Spend Wisely? Sources of Public Finance and Government Accountability," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 274-314, January.
    2. Ross, Michael L., 2004. "Does Taxation Lead to Representation?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(2), pages 229-249, April.
    3. Prichard,Wilson, 2015. "Taxation, Responsiveness and Accountability in Sub-Saharan Africa," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107110861.
    4. Brautigam,Deborah & Fjeldstad,Odd-Helge & Moore,Mick (ed.), 2008. "Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521888158.
    5. Fischer, Harry W., 2016. "Beyond Participation and Accountability: Theorizing Representation in Local Democracy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 111-122.
    6. Brautigam,Deborah & Fjeldstad,Odd-Helge & Moore,Mick (ed.), 2008. "Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521716192.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. van den Boogaard, Vanessa & Prichard, Wilson & Milicic, Nikola & Benson, Matthew, 2016. "Tax Revenue Mobilization in Conflict-Affected Developing Countries," Working Papers 13551, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    2. Vanessa van den Boogaard & Wilson Prichard & Nikola Milicic & Matthew Benson, 2016. "Tax revenue mobilization in conflict-affected developing countries," WIDER Working Paper Series 155, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Oskar Nupia, 2017. "Income Taxes, Political Accountability and Public Goods Provision," Documentos CEDE 15835, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    4. van den Boogaard, Vanessa & Prichard, Wilson & Benson, Matthew S. & Milicic, Nikola, 2018. "Tax Revenue Mobilization in Conflict†affected Developing Countries," Working Papers 13659, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    5. Vanessa van den Boogaard & Wilson Prichard & Nikola Milicic & Matthew Benson, 2016. "Tax revenue mobilization in conflict-affected developing countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-155, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Gabriella Y. Carolini, 2021. "Aid’s urban footprint and its implications for local inequality and governance," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(2), pages 389-409, March.
    7. Mogues, Tewodaj & Benin, Samuel, 2012. "Do External Grants to District Governments Discourage Own Revenue Generation? A Look at Local Public Finance Dynamics in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 1054-1067.
    8. Gough, Ian & Abu Sharkh, Miriam, 2011. "Financing welfare regimes: mapping heterogeneous revenue structures," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 36629, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Giulia Mascagni, 2016. "Aid and Taxation in Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(12), pages 1744-1758, December.
    10. Savoia, Antonio & Sen, Kunal & Tagem, Abrams M. E., 2023. "Constraints on the executive and tax revenues in the long run," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 314-331, June.
    11. Standing, André, 2014. "Ghana׳s extractive industries and community benefit sharing: The case for cash transfers," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 74-82.
    12. Pallavi Roy & Mushtaq H. Khan, 2021. "Digitizing Taxation and Premature Formalization in Developing Countries," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(4), pages 855-877, July.
    13. K. Kivanç Karaman & Sevket Pamuk, 2011. "Different Paths to the Modern State in Europe: The interaction between domestic political economy and interstate competition," Europe in Question Discussion Paper Series of the London School of Economics (LEQs) 7, London School of Economics / European Institute.
    14. Joshi, Anuradha & Prichard, Wilson & Heady, Christopher, 2014. "Taxing the Informal Economy: The Current State of Knowledge and Agendas for Future Research," Working Papers 13663, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    15. Abel Escribà-Folch, 2009. "Do authoritarian institutions mobilize economic cooperation?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 71-93, March.
    16. Broms, Rasmus, 2017. "Colonial Revenue Extraction and Modern Day Government Quality in the British Empire," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 269-280.
    17. Baskaran, Thushyanthan, 2014. "Taxation and Democratization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 287-301.
    18. Pedro L. Rodríguez, José R. Morales, Fancisco J. Monaldi, 2012. "Direct Distribution of Oil Revenues in Venezuela: A Viable Alternative?," Working Papers 306, Center for Global Development.
    19. Mara Redlich Revkin, 2021. "Competitive Governance and Displacement Decisions Under Rebel Rule: Evidence from the Islamic State in Iraq," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 65(1), pages 46-80, January.
    20. Ane Karoline Bak & Matilde Jeppesen & Anne Mette Kjær, 2021. "Fiscal states in sub-Saharan Africa: conceptualization and empirical trends," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-182, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:indpol:v:10:y:2022:i:2:p:201-213. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.