Warfare, Taxation, and Political Change: Evidence from the Italian Risorgimento

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca; European University Institute
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S002205071100218X
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 887-914
• 关键词: state capacity; institutions; england

摘要

We examine the relationships between warfare, taxation, and political change in the context of the political unification of the Italian peninsula. Using a comprehensive new database, we argue that external and internal threat environments had significant implications for the demand for military strength, which in turn had important ramifications for fiscal policy and the likelihood of constitutional reform and related improvements in the provision of nonmilitary public services. Our analytic narrative complements recent theoretical and econometric works about state capacity. By emphasizing public finances, we also uncover novel insights about the forces underlying state formation in Italy.