Research Summary 37. The Politics of Taxation and Implications for Accountability in Ghana 1983-2008.
Abstract
This paper forms part of a three country study of the political economy of taxation and its relationship to accountability in Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia. It investigates the hypothesis that a government that relies primarily on tax revenues is more likely to be accountable to citizens. It first looks at the political economy of taxation in Ghana from1981 to identify key moments for further study, and to supply the political context for events; and then asks whether this provides evidence of successful demands for greater accountability i.e. for a form of fiscal contract. It finds evidence of an important relationship between taxation and accountability, but also that the particulars of that relationship vary dramatically based on contingent factors.
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Citation
Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2 pp.
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