Do the attempts of modern states to foster tax compliance reflect wider attributes of modernity? This article analyzes the history of the creation of a tax compliance culture in Israel of the 1950s and the various practices, techniques, and discourses that were deployed by the state to create model taxpaying citizens. It shows how the specific history of tax compliance can be understood as part of a wider phenomenon: the desire of modern states to create self‐policing, normalized subjects. By interpreting the history of tax compliance critically, as part of the attempt of the state to control its citizens, the article suggests a new way of understanding the history of twentieth‐century tax compliance generally and more specifically the history of judicial attempts to tackle tax evasion and tax avoidance.

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This paper examines the attempt of some Jewish nationalists to create a Jewish legal system in early 20th century Palestine. Like many nationalist movements, Zionism, the Jewish nationalist movement, sought to revive its cultural past. The best known aspect of Zionist cultural activity was the revival of the Hebrew language, but linguistic revival was not the only item on the cultural agenda. Some Zionists also sought to revive what they called "Hebrew law" and make it the legal system of the Jewish community in Palestine.In this article, I will argue that the revival of Hebrew law, like the revival of a large part of Hebrew culture was not meant to be a continuation of the Jewish past, but a break with it; not so much the restoration of an oldtradition, as the invention of a new one. Hebrew law, like the rest of Zionist culture, was constructed by its early advocates, most of whom were secular Jews, as a reflection of Zionist

Attending to an underdeveloped lacuna in Weber's sociology of law, this essay examines the relationship between Protestant theology and the emergence of modern, rational legal systems. The essay argues that radical Protestantism inspired demands for the rationalization of English law, and while not successful in bringing about the concrete changes advocated, that central features of Weber's notion of rational legal thought were also central in the theology of the radical Protestants. Examining the legal thought of two groups that appeared during the English Revolution—the Levellers and the Diggers—the essay shows how theology provided these groups with a model for a more predictable law, offered them a source for the norms of their proposed legal system, and motivated the desire for law reform.