Taxation, Pay and Devaluation

Abstract

The competence of a political party to manage the economy may well affect the way in which people vote, but the electorate does not pass judgment on that competence in terms of the general national economy but rather in the context of specific economic issues, such as the level of personal tax paid by the voter or the degree of job security felt by the individual in the face of national employment statistics. These specific issues are linked, and a party’s performance in relation to one may well affect its performance in another. On the other hand, an individual will judge each specific issue on its merits and its relevance to his or her priorities, so that a supporter of the Conservative Party may well continue to believe in the Conservatives’ overall competence because of their policies on taxation, despite a suspicion that the Conservatives do not make a good showing in other areas of concern.