000			02095cam a2200193 4500
100	1		_aRADEMACHER Inga
245			_aWinning the votes for institutional change: _bhow discursive acts of compromise shaped radical income tax reforms in the United States/ _cInga Rademacher
260			_c2022
520			_aSince the 1980s, many governments in the Western world have implemented radical income tax cuts which have become associated with soaring levels of inequality. The literature has focused on institutional accounts to explain these developments. However, institutions alone cannot account for the emergence of societal and political support necessary for radical change of this kind. Therefore, this paper explores the role of communication techniques directed at voters, interest groups and legislators to enable radical reform. Based on a content analysis of Congressional debates for the Reagan and Bush tax cuts, contextualised with archival documents from Presidential Libraries, this study shows the critical relevance of strategic acts of compromise to shore up legislative and voter support for radical tax cuts. It finds (a) that change actors have several different acts of strategic compromise (incorporation, compensation, and reconciliation) at their disposal which they use at different points in the legislative process. That (b) the most successful strategies consistently link the coordinative discourse (bargaining with interest groups behind closed doors) and communicative discourse (directed at the public and the minority congressional party). And that (c) change actors learn how to the use successful combinations of compromise over time and thereby enhance reform stability.
650			_aDISCOURSE
650			_aTAX REFORMS
650			_aINSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
650			_aELECTORAL POLITICS
650			_aUNITED STATES
773			_aPolicy Studies : _gVol 43, No. 6, November 2022, pp.1173-1194
598			_aUSA, POLITICS
856			_uhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01442872.2021.1946027 _zClick here for full text
945			_i69280.1001 _rY _sY
999			_c42362 _d42362