Globalisierung und fiskalische Demokratie

This article addresses a dilemma: an effective tax state is a precondition for securing the political stability of economic globalization. But globalization, in the form of tax competition, undermines nation states’ capacity to democratically choose the level, structure and distribution of their tax revenues. To regain democratic fiscal self-determination, international regulation of tax competition is required. Yet, how can a single nation’s right to self-determination be delimited so that all nations can effectively exercise their right under conditions of fiscal interdependence? The article proposes a republican conception of fiscal self-determination and develops two principles of international tax policy and their institutionalization in an International Tax Organization (ITO).