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© Micro Foundations of Democratic Governance Research
Page last updated 2 January 2007
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Valerie.Braithwaite@anu.edu.au
Micro Foundations of Democratic Governance
Defiance
Defiance is a threat to social order. Tolerance for defiance varies depending on the nature of the defiance, the cultural setting, and the other pressures that are being felt by a community at the time the defiance is expressed. Sanctioning systems are in place to punish the defiant formally through economic, legal, social, psychological, and sometimes, physical means. The institutional rationale is that at worst defiance will be silenced, at best compliance will take its place.
Increasingly, we are seeing the adverse and unexpected consequences of having a limited institutional repertoire for dealing with defiance. When those who are defiant convince a public that their cause is right and that their treatment at the hands of authority has been unfair, authorities, in spite of their formal power, are at a significant moral disadvantage in providing leadership for what has become a sceptical public.
In a bid to find better ways of managing defiance and of being accountable and transparent in the eyes of the public, authorities have begun to develop more responsive and deliberative management systems. But they also need to know how to read defiance. When is defiance an inappropriate response to a reasonable request? When is defiance an appropriate response to an inappropriate request?
Defiance can reflect institutional failure, just as it can reflect individuals who are not prepared to cooperate within a governance structure. Untangling different kinds of defiance and examining the different ways in which authorities can engage with defiance are the primary objectives of this research.
Publications and Presentations
Braithwaite, V. & Wenzel, M.
Integrating explanations of tax evasion and avoidance. In A. Lewis (ed) Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Economic Behaviour. Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
Braithwaite, V., Murphy, K. & Reinhart, M.
Threat, motivational postures and responsive regulation, Law and Policy 29(1) 2007:137-158.
Braithwaite, V. & Braithwaite, J.
Democratic sentiment and cyclical markets in vice, British Journal of Criminology 46 2006:1110-1127.
Braithwaite, V.
Family Tax Benefit and cash economy activity. Paper
presented to the Department of Family and Community Services,
Australian Government, Canberra, 1 June 2006.
Braithwaite, V.
Reintegrative Shaming and Compliance. Paper
presented at the conference hosted by the Dutch Tax and Customs
Administration & Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and
Law Enforcement, Managing and Maintaining Compliance: Closing the Gap
between Science and Practice, Leiden University, Netherlands, 9-11
April 2006.
Braithwaite, V.
The Threat of Taxation: The Rationale for Managing
Responsively. Paper presented at the Institute for Economic Psychology,
Educational Psychology and Evaluation, Department of Psychology,
University of Vienna, Vienna, 6-7 April 2006.
Braithwaite, V.
The defiance project. Paper presented at the Regulatory Institutions Network Annual Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, 7-8 December 2005.
Braithwaite, V.
The Regulatory Paradox: The Promotion of both
Compliance and Defiance by Tax Authorities. Paper presented at the
workshop hosted by Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany,
(A)moral Economies, Predatory Society: Crime, Markets and Risk, Berlin,
1-2 July 2005.
Braithwaite, V., Reinhart, M., Job, J. & Harris, N.
Family Tax Benefit and Cash Economy Activity.
Report to the Department of Family and Community Services. Regulatory
Institutions Network, Australian National University, 2005. 107 pp.
Braithwaite, V.
The hope process and social inclusion, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 592 2004:128-151.
Braithwaite, V.
A new approach to tax compliance. In V. Braithwaite (ed) Taxing Democracy: Understanding Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2003:1-14.
Braithwaite, V.
Dancing with tax authorities: Motivational postures and non-compliant actions. In V. Braithwaite (ed) Taxing Democracy: Understanding Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2003:15-40.
Braithwaite, V.
Tax system integrity and compliance: The democratic management of the tax system. In V. Braithwaite (ed) Taxing Democracy: Understanding Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion. Ashgate, Aldershot, 2003:271-290.
Braithwaite, V.
Tensions between the citizen taxpaying role and compliance practices,
Centre for Tax System Integrity Working Paper No. 13, Australian
National University, Canberra, 2000.
Braithwaite, V.
Games of engagement: Postures within the regulatory community, Law and Policy 17 1995:225-255.
Braithwaite, V., Braithwaite, J., Gibson, D. & Makkai, T.
Regulatory styles, motivational postures and nursing home compliance, Law and Policy 16 1994:363-394.