Baskaran, ThushyanthanBigsten, Arne2011-06-152011-06-152011-061403-2465http://hdl.handle.net/2077/25676JEL classification: H20; P14; O23Historical evidence from the developed world suggests that the expansion of the mod- ern states’ fiscal capacity (i. e. its ability to tax citizens) eventually led to more democratic and less corrupt governments. Since sub-Saharan African countries are currently in a pro- cess of state building, we study whether a positive effect of fiscal capacity on government accountability prevails in contemporaneous sub-Saharan Africa, too. We conduct the em- pirical analysis with data covering 23 African countries over the 1960-2008 period. The results suggest that fiscal capacity increases government accountability in sub-Saharan Africa.engfiscal capacitytaxationgovernment accountabilitydemocracyText