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Tocqueville Pioneer of Fiscal Sociology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2010

Marc Leroy
Marc Leroy*
Affiliation:
Université de Reims, CRDT (Gis-Grale/CNRS) [marc.leroy@univ-reims.fr].
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Abstract

This article presents an unknown aspect of Tocqueville’s thinking that positions him as a pioneer in the field of fiscal sociology. In Democracy in America, he puts forward the general trend by democratic societies to increase their public expenditure, which would later be known as Wagner’s law. His findings continue to be valid in an era of economic globalization, especially with the resilience of the Welfare State. In The Old Regime and the Revolution, the demonstration is mainly based on the financial changes in the public sector that contributed to destroying political freedom, accentuating class divisions, and delegitimizing public action while cognitive and ideological factors precipitated the movement. Tocqueville’s pioneering work is remarkable for its methodology (although this remains implicit rather than explicit) and for its results. Nevertheless it is not referred to by either the founders of financial sociology or by current researchers.

Résumé

Cet article présente un aspect méconnu de la pensée de Tocqueville, pionnier de la sociologie fiscale. Dans La Démocratie en Amérique, il a mis en évidence la tendance générale à la hausse des dépenses publiques des sociétés démocratiques, qui sera plus tard connue comme loi de Wagner. Cette leçon demeure valable à l’ère de la globalisation économique, notamment avec la résilience de l’État-providence. Dans L’Ancien Régime et la Révolution, la démonstration se fonde principalement sur les mutations financières étatiques qui ont contribué à détruire la liberté politique, à accentuer la division des classes, et à délégitimer l’action publique, les facteurs cognitifs et idéologiques ayant précipité le mouvement. Le travail pionnier de Tocqueville est remarquable par sa méthodologie (même si elle est peu explicitée) et par ses résultats. Il est cependant à peu près ignoré des chercheurs du domaine. Ce à quoi l’article souhaite remédier.

Zusammenfassung

Dieser Betrag beleuchtet einen unbekannten Gedankengang Tocquevilles, Vorläufer der steuerlichen Soziologie. In Démocratie en Amérique weist er auf die allgemeine Erhöhung der öffentlichen Ausgaben der amerikanischen Staaten hin, später als Wagnergesetz in die Geschichte eingegangen. Dies trifft auch zur Zeit der wirtschaftlichen Globalisierung zu, besonders für den Sozialstaat. In L’Ancien Régime et la Révolution geht es hauptsächlich um die staatlichen Finanzveränderungen, die die politische Freiheit zerstört, die Klassenunterschiede verstärkt und die öffentliche Hand verunglimpft haben, wobei die kognitiven und ideologischen Faktoren diese Bewegung beschleunigt haben. Die Vorläuferrolle Tocquevilles ist bemerkenswert sowohl was die Methode (selbst wenn sie relativ unerklärt bleibt) als auch die Ergebnisse anbelangt, den Wissenschaftlern aber ist sie unbekannt. Dieser Aufsatz soll hier Abhilfe schaffen.

Keywords

TocquevilleFinancial and Fiscal SociologyWagner’s LawRevolutionsTocquevilleSociologie financière et fiscaleLoi de WagnerRévolutionsTocquevilleWirtschaftliche und steuerliche SoziologieWagnergesetzRevolutionen
Type
Research Articles
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , August 2010 , pp. 195 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © A.E.S. 2010

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