Voluntary taxation

Public goods are funded by contributions people choose to make, rather than by compulsory taxes.

Mancur Olson's The Logic of Collective Action (1965) explains the core difficulty: when benefits are shared, individuals have an incentive to free ride. Assurance contracts, social norms and matching schemes are proposed remedies.

• Ancient Athens relied partly on 'liturgies', public services funded by wealthy citizens.
• Open-source and public-media donation models fund some shared goods.
• Several charter and network communities propose voluntary contributions.

Voluntary schemes tend to underfund public goods, especially those that benefit people who cannot pay. Dependence on large donors gives them influence.

No modern polity funds its core public goods mainly through voluntary payments. Small communities with strong norms come closest.