The essays in this book treat the relationships among politics, taxation, and the rule of law. A central tenet of democratic ideology is that taxation is something that we choose to do to ourselves, rather than being something that is imposed on us by some ruler. The basic ideology of the...

When policymakers discuss tax policy, they are attempting to sell their ideas to their colleagues and to voters, but they frame their sales pitch in scientific-sounding language for credibility. Economists generally agree on the principles for sound taxation — for example, that taxes should be...