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The Fiscal Component of Revolution: An Essay in Fiscal Sociology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Fritz Karl Mann
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Extract

Throughout history, the control of public funds has been considered a cornerstone of political power. If it is true that all societies, from die dawn of civilizations to the present, have been divided into two classes, one that rules and the other that is ruled, it may be expected that the methods of raising and spending government money have been determined by one social group, generally a minority, to the complete or almost complete exclusion of the rest of the population. Such control would be intended to kill two birds with one stone, serving the direct purpose of administering the state and the indirect purpose of strengthening the privileged position of the governing group and thus prolonging their predominance. Yet studies in fiscal sociology are still in tlieir infancy. Because of their casual and hapo hazard character, they are not as yet a match for political sociology. Only during recent decades has a broader and more systematic approach been attempted.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , July 1947 , pp. 331 - 349
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1947

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References

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