PSC 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Regressive Tax, Affordable Housing, Progressive Tax
Document Summary
Welfare state: set of programs states implement to protect the economic and social wellbeing of all its citizens. In the u. s, until the 2010 care reform, about 15% of the population had no health insurance: today it is 15%, but had fallen to 8% In a democracy, as the median income is lower than the mean income, poorer citizens should exert political pressure for a progressive tax system and progressively redistributive welfare-state policies. Explaining variation in welfare state spending (1) labor unions- economic interest groups. The larger, more cohesive, and more incorporated is organized labor, the more likely we are to see relatively generous welfare state policies: germany and sweden (2) left-right economic divide: political identities. In larger countries (united states), effect of globalization on government redistribution is limited: example: scandinavia vs. u. s, scandinavia is more regressive tax system, while u. s is more progressive.
