Vox Clamantis in Deserto: The Role of the Individual in Forging a Strong Duty to the Tax System
The United States is blessed with a prevailing social norm of high tax compliance. However, a number of strong forces are currently placing that norm in jeopardy. This essay reviews the process by which social norms change and the characteristics evidenced by “contagious” social norms. It then considers the important role individual action can plays in creating and maintaining a social norm of tax compliance and how individuals can be encouraged to embrace and propagate this norm. Particular emphasis is placed on 1) ways that a taxpaying social norm can be molded to make it more contagious among individuals and 2) the means of coopting important trendsetter groups into supporting the norm.
Reconsidering the Nondelegation Doctrine: Universal Service, the Power to Tax, and the Ratification Doctrine
Nothing raises the blood pressure of average Americans more than taxes-a common aphorism has it that few things in life are certain, save death and taxes. Moreover, concerns about taxation (at least in part) sparked the American Revolution. 3 From the Boston Tea Party, in December 1773, to the California property tax revolt leading to the passage of Proposition 13 a little over two hundred years later in 1978, 4 to the present, U.S. taxpayers have proven remarkably resistant to involuntarily surrendering their property to the government. Taxes may well be the price that we pay
Gender Politics and Research: Male and Female Violence in Intimate Relationships
This article reviews a wide range of research reports on male and female violence in intimate relationships and highlights the political nature of domestic violence research. The authors review incidence and prevalence-based research that uses quantitative surveys and illustrate how quantitative, family-focussed researchers tend to ignore the political and social context of domestic violence and the complex issues of gender and power. The authors argue that understanding the complexities of domestic violence requires clear definitions of what constitutes domestic violence and multi-method approaches to research, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies.