Abstract
Using new measures to compare both the 48 states and 52 upstate New York counties, this research reformulates V. O. Key's hypothesis that noncompetitive systems benefit upper socioeconomic groups while competitive systems favor the lower classes. In designing these tests, we returned to Key's original conceptualization, which, contrary to the subsequent research that claimed to test his hypothesis, did not separate and oppose the political and economic sectors. In line with Key's formulation, we find that competitive political structure goes hand in hand with competitive economic structure and together they determine an array of fiscal policies that are different from those of noncompetitive political-economic systems. This return to the original sense of the hypothesis resolves many of the puzzling findings that have been generated in the last several decades. Democratic party affiliation and urban differentiation also affected revenues and expenditures. These same characteristics were previously shown to affect poverty and social pathology. That they now affect public policy for dealing with these problems means that those caught in the web of poverty are in double jeopardy.
Similar content being viewed by others
Bibliography
AlfordR. R., and FriedlandR.: 1975, ‘Political participation and public policy’, Annual Review of Sociology 1, pp. 429–479.
BoomsB. H., and HalldorsonJ. R.: 1973, ‘The politics of redistribution: a reformulation’, The American Political Science Review 67, pp. 924–933.
CarminesE. G.: 1974, ‘The mediating influence of state legislatures on the linkage between interparty competition and welfare policies’, The American Political Science Review 68, pp. 1118–1124.
Clark, C. W.: 1967, A Survey of Legislative Services in the Fifty States (Citizens Conference on State Legislatures, Kansas City, Mo.).
CnuddeC. F., and McCroneD. J.: 1969, ‘Party competition and welfare policies in the American states’, The American Political Science Review 63, pp. 858–866.
DawsonR. E., and RobinsonJ. A.: 1963, ‘Inter-party competition, economic variables, and welfare policies in the American states’, The Journal of Politics 25, pp. 265–289.
DeLeonR. E.: 1973, ‘Politics, economic surplus and redistribution in the American states: a test of theory’, The American Journal of Political Science 17, pp. 769–781.
DurkheimE.: 1933, The Division of Labor in Society (The Free Press, New York).
DyeT. R.: 1966, Politics, Economics, and the Public: Policy Outcomes in the American States (Rand McNally, Chicago).
FentonJ. H.: 1966, People and Parties in Politics: Unofficial Makers of Public Policy (Scott, Foresman and Co., Glenview, Ill.).
FentonJ. H., and ChamberlayneD. W.: 1969, ‘The literature dealing with the relationships between political processes, socioeconomic conditions and public policies in the American states: a bibliographical essay’, Polity 1, pp. 388–404.
FryB. R., and WintersR. F.: 1970, ‘The politics of redistribution’, The American Political Science Review, 64, pp. 508–522.
GodwinR. K., and ShepardW. B.: 1976, ‘A re-examination based on theories of representative government’, The American Political Science Review 70, pp. 1127–1135.
GrummJ. G.: 1971, ‘The effects of legislative structure on legislative performance’, pp. 298–322 in R. I.Hofferbert and I.Sharkansky (eds.), State and Urban Politics (Little, Brown & Co., Boston).
HermanE. S.: 1981, Corporate Control, Corporate Power (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York).
HicksA., FriedlandR., and JohnsonE.: 1978, ‘Class power and state policy: the case of large business corporations, labor unions and governmental redistribution in the American states’, The American Sociological Review 43, pp. 302–315.
HofferbertR. I.: 1966, ‘The relation between public policy and some structural and environmental variables in the American states’, The American Political Science Review 60, pp. 73–82.
Hundley, R. S.: 1974, ‘Social structural determinants of redistributive policy in the American states: a comparative analysis’, M.S. thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
JenningsE. T. Jr.: 1979, ‘Competition, constituencies, and welfare policies in American states’, The American Political Science Review 73, pp. 414–429.
KeyV. O. Jr.: 1949, Southern Politics in State and Nation (Alfred A. Knopf, New York), esp. pp. 298–314.
LipsetS. M.: 1960 Political Man (Doubleday, New York).
LockardD.: 1959, New England State Politics (Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J.), pp. 320–340.
NichollsW.: 1960, Southern Tradition and Regional Progress (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill).
RoederP. W.: 1976, Stability and Change in the Determinants of State Expenditures (Sage Professional Papers in American Politics 3, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, Calif.).
StrouseJ. C., and JonesP.: 1974, ‘Federal aid: the forgotten variable in state policy research’, The Journal of Politics, 36, pp. 200–207.
TuckerH. J.: 1982, ‘Interparty competition in the American states’, American Politics Quarterly 10, pp. 93–116.
UslanerE. M.: 1978, ‘Comparative state policy information, interparty competition, and malapportionment: a new look at “V. O. Key's hypotheses”’, The Journal of Politics 40, pp. 409–432.
WalkerJ. L.: 1969, ‘The diffusion of innovations among the American states’, The American Political Science Review 63, pp. 880–899.
YoungR. C.: 1978, ‘Poverty and inequality in the United States: a non-Marxist explanation’, Social Indicators Research 8, pp. 103–114.
YoungR. C.: 1981, ‘The social structure of social problems in New York State’, Social Indicators Research 10, pp. 437–448.
YoungR. C., and MacCannellD. 1979, ‘Predicting the quality of life in the United States’, Social Indicators Research 6, pp. 23–40.
YoungR. C., and MorenoJ. A.: 1965, ‘Economic development and social rigidity: a comparative study of the forty-eight states’, Economic Development and Cultural Change 13, pp. 439–452.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Young, R.C., Rolleston, G.L. & Geisler, C.C. Competitive structure and fiscal policy. Soc Indic Res 14, 421–452 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300451
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300451