Scott Gehlbach, University of Wisconsin–Madison, author of
Representation Through Taxation: Revenue, Politics, and Development in Postcommunist States:
"Capital, Coercion, and Postcommunist States is a history of postcommunist Poland and Russia as seen through the lens of the state's struggle to extract revenue. Gerald M. Easter is the foremost expert on these developments, and he has crafted a fascinating narrative to carry his penetrating analysis of these countries’ trajectories. This fabulous book is a must-read for political scientists, historians, and sociologists—in short, for anybody interested in the state."
Laszlo Bruszt, European University Institute:
"This book is a refreshing contribution to fiscal sociology and the political economy of the emergence of tax states and a must-read for students of postcommunist state building."
Kathryn Hendley:
"Easter does a masterful job of walking readers through the twists and turns of the never-ending saga with his clear prose, while never losing sight of the larger political story.. the book is a welcome addition to the sparse literature on the evolution of fiscal policy as part of the transition away from state socialism. It deserves a place of honor on the bookshelves of those interested in economic development and political economy."
Robert Legvold:
"The way capital and coercion intersect constitutes the core of Easter's explanation for why and how some postcommunist countries emerged with a 'contractual’ state and others with a ‘predatory’ one.... Whether a state follows the path to one type or the other depends heavily on the outcome of battles over taxation, Easter argues in this lucid, well-argued book. Tracing the complex interplay among politicians, bureaucrats, corporate interests, and labor in the struggle to shape the state’s capacity to finance itself is no simple task, and Easter does it deftly."
Timothy Frye, Marshall D. Shulman Professor, Director Harriman Institute, Columbia University:
"Perhaps no issue is more important in postcommunist state building than the creation of the capacity to tax. Gerald M. Easter masterfully explores the building of state capacity in Poland and Russia during the last twenty years by tracing how the agents of coercion and capital have bargained over the proper bounds of taxation. Borrowing insights from fiscal sociology, Easter artfully depicts how state power to tax is created, used, and often abused in a post-communist setting and reminds us of the central role of coercion in building markets. Well-written and impressively researched, Capital, Coercion and Postcommunist States makes an important contribution to the growing literature on state-building after communism."
""A sagacious narrative based on painstaking analysis of primary sources, the book weaves economic structure, political dynamics, and institutional constraints into a comprehensive picture of the evolving postcommunist state-society...Capital, Coercion, and Postcommunist States presents a remarkably well-researched history of state revenue extraction that builds on a penetrating analysis of the countries' laws, economic statistics, public opinion surveys, press reports, memoirs, and officials’ public statements." —Dinissa Duvanova,Canadian-American Slavic Studies"
Hilary Appel:
"This book offers a rich analysis of the development of postcommunist fiscal systems, offering focused examinations of the Russian and Polish state-building experiences.... There is great elegance in Easter's prose and good humor behind his many insights.... Perhaps the book’s greatest strength is in its use of fiscal sociology to shed light upon the pathways by which tax systems developed and the evolving relationships between the state, society, and capital. It is a must-read for students of taxation regardless of regional specialization or methodological stripe."
