The Mythical Causes of the Republican Supply-Side Economics Revolution

Bibliographic Data

ID6315976
AuthorsJohn W Burns (0000-0003-4334-4762), Andrew J Taylor (0000-0001-7309-6347)
Year2000
Volume6
Issue4
Pages419-440
Publication date2000-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueParty Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-0688 • E-ISSN: 1460-3683
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1354068800006004002
OpenAlexW2042495797
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited16

In this paper we analyze the two conventional explanations of the Republican Party's adoption of supply-side economic philosophy in the 1977-81 period: first, that the position change was induced by the Sunbelt component of the party; and second, that the doctrinal shift was brought about by widespread concern with tax policy among the public and the Republican mass in particular. We reveal both arguments to be flawed and suggest that the party's advocation of large across-the-board tax cuts was the result of calculated and coordinated decisions by Washington elites within the party. We provide empirical and theoretical justification for a national elite-led explanation of this event. As a result, our study helps solidify contemporary scholarship that counteracts conventional wisdom in comparative politics and suggests that national American parties, at least when it comes to policy formation, can be relatively hierarchical institutions that shape as much as respond to mass and local behavior

Economics · Elite · Law and economics · Legislature · Market economy · Period (music · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Politics of the United States · Position (finance · Scholarship · Supply side · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Finance

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