Taxation, State Formation and Governmentality: The Historical Development of Alcohol Excise Duties in England and Wales

The use of excise taxation in contemporary Western societies is marked by the curious co-existence of the state’s inherent fiscal objective of raising revenue with often-articulated behavioural objectives relating to lowering or altering public consumption of certain commodities. This paper uses findings from the first dedicated empirical study of the long-term development of various alcohol excise duties in England and Wales to investigate how and why this contemporary situation, of distinct and potentially inconsistent rationalities, came to exist. Orthodox tax history tends to emphasise the importance of tax for state formation generally and/or the more specific establishment of a fiscal-military state in Britain. While important, such accounts relate principally to the fiscal dimensions of taxation and say little about any behavioural aspects. This paper draws upon the original analysis of archival government sources from 1643 to 1914 that pertain to the excise taxation of various drinks that are today defined as alcoholic. It also involves the innovative application of the Foucauldian concept of governmentality to this history of taxation. The article demonstrates that the historical development of alcohol excise duties in England and Wales has been driven, not just by the formation of a fiscal-military state, but also by the emergence of governmentality across the modern period. This original insight into tax history is used to explain the logical inconsistencies within current tax laws. Moreover, by providing the first sustained analysis of its links to taxation, the article advances the developing literature around governmentality within criminology, sociology and sociolegal studies.