Braz. political sci. rev.2025;19(3):e0008.
Expropriation Backlashing and Tax Burden in Latin America
Luiz Guilherme Roth Cantarelli
DOI: 10.1590/1981-3821202500030008
In ‘Property Threats and the Politics of Anti-Statism’, Ondetti (2021) examines the variations in taxation across Latin America, especially regarding total tax burden and state size. Adopting an actor-based approach, the author emphasizes the role of threats to property rights as the leading cause for lower tax burdens. Ondetti (2021) argues that attempts at expropriation triggered backlash reactions, leading to path-dependent anti-state coalitions aimed at preventing further expropriation and higher taxation. The book contrasts the experiences of Chile and Mexico – where such threats gave rise to strong anti-statist movements – with Brazil and Argentina, where private property was never under real threat.
In Chapter 01, Ondetti (2021) engages with economic, institutional, and actor-centered explanations for state size, ultimately asserting that only an actor-centered approach can adequately account for the differences observed in the region. He further contends that the classic class struggle opposition, such as adopted by , is insufficient to explain the variations in outcomes in Latin America. Instead, he posits that the opposition between statist and anti-statist positions offers a more effective explanatory framework. This shift within more conventional actor-centric approaches, he argues, provides a better understanding of the variation in tax burdens among Latin American countries.
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