The politics of tax reform in the United States (1980-1986

The debate over taxation has been going on since as early as the constitutional convention. Every American president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has introduced at least one revenue bill that resulted in substantial changes in taxes. The debate over taxation has involved many participants and in some cases, the struggle over whose taxes would be reduced or increased has been furious.;This dissertation analyzes the debates over taxation from the New Deal to the 1986 Tax Reform Act, examining which groups participated in the legislative process leading to tax changes, and which groups benefited most. The problem is approached by exploring three main issues: (1) the legislative process and the nature of the tax reforms between 1980 and 1986; (2) the impact of the 1981 tax reform on economic growth and equity--the potential impact of the 1986 tax reform also is briefly examined; and (3) the role of political action committees (PACs) in the 1986 tax reform.;The dissertation tests the following hypotheses: (1) tax policies in the U.S. were never made to benefit all classes equally; (2) the working poor and the middle class will lose under the 1986 tax reform act; and (3) low income and black Americans did not participate in the legislative process leading to the 1986 tax reform. Consequently, the rich stand to benefit more from the reform.;The following techniques were used to approach the problem of the influence of PACs: (1) crosstabulation analysis; (2) multiple regression analysis; and (3) the probit model. The findings revealed the following: (1) The effects of tax changes have been the creation of incentives for corporations and wealthy individuals; (2) the 1981 tax reform had an adverse impact on both economic growth and equity; (3) only the economically and consequently the politically powerful groups participated in the legislative process leading to tax reform. Political action committee (PAC) campaign contributions had some but not a determining influence on how U.S. Senators voted on tax issues.