Premium
The growth and decentralisation of the modern democratic state
Author(s) -
SHARPE L.J.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1988.tb00158.x
Subject(s) - decentralization , democracy , urbanization , state (computer science) , government (linguistics) , political science , public administration , political economy , development economics , economics , economic growth , law , politics , linguistics , philosophy , algorithm , computer science
. That modern democratic governments have grown is beyond dispute, as is the fact that this growth has promoted intense misgivings amongst a number of writers, not least amongst the followers of Hayek. But an examination of the growth in governmental activity reveals that it is the sub‐national level of government which has absorbed a greater share of governmental growth than the centre. The author continues by exploring a number of reasons for this development and concludes that the most likely explanations lie in the continued urbanisation of most western countries; the associated need for more governmental services; and in the possibility that taxpayers' resistance to tax increases is lower at the sub‐national than it is at national level.