One of the most important features of the Italian fiscal theory is the state model originated by De Viti De Marco a full century ago. In his work
Il Carattere Teorico dell' Economia Finanziaria (1888), De Viti classified the state into two distinct types on the basis of the location of the decision-making power: the monopolistic state and the cooperative state. He used these two distinct state concepts to develop the two alternative fiscal theories which, however, have long been largely neglected in the literature.
In 1949, Buchanan published his paper “The Pure Theory of Government Finance: A Suggested Approach, ” which discussed the two state concepts of his own: the individualistic state and the organismic state. The conceptual resemblance of this dichotomy with the Italian counterpart is manifest, although Buchanan appeared yet to be aware of it in paper. However, the subsequent extention of his work reaveals an apparent Italian influence fully embodied in his remarkable contributions to the theory of public finance.
Some researchers suggest that the uniqueness of Buchanan's fiscal theory is in the democratic setting it provided (in
Public Finance in a Democratic Process (1967) ), while others consider the hypothesis of the revenue-maximizing government or the so-called Leviathan state and the related theory of fiscal activities to be more important contributions (as in
The Power to Tax (1980) ) . However, the former is predicated on the idea of the cooperative state and the latter has many common characteristics with the analysis of the monopolistic state, both proposed by the above mentioned Italian economist, De Viti De Marco. It would thus be safe to say that the forlorn Italian ancestry has revived and found a new life in Buchanan's fiscal theory.
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