Who pays for American democracy?

Our guest this week argues that you can't talk about the history of democracy in America without talking about the history of taxation in America. After listening to this interview, we agree and we think you will, too. 

Vanessa Williamson is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, and a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. She studies taxation and democracy in America. Her most recent book,The Price of Democracy, reveals the revolutionary power of taxation in American history. She is also the author of Read My Lips: Why Americans Are Proud to Pay Taxes, and with Harvard professor Theda Skocpol, “The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism. 

We discuss the origins of the anti-tax movement in America and why the story commonly told about the Boston Tea Party is wrong. Williamson also shares some of her work interviewing current and former IRS employees and how the agency can be revitalized to ensure that Americans can pay their taxes easily and fairly.

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