Publication

Why do citizens assent to pay tax? On what condition do private individuals agree to commit their personal income to a public fund at the disposal of the state? What are the reciprocal responsibilities of the state expected in return for this remarkable act? The paper poses these questions in the context of African states and tests three distinct theoretical perspectives: i) the fiscal exchange thesis that emphasizes the vertical relationship between citizen and state, ii) the 'national political community' approach, which highlights the horizontal relationship between citizens, in terms of the extent of national identification and iii) the comparative treatment perspective, focused on how the state treats the citizen relative to their compatriots.