Public communication and tax awareness: the construction of democratic collectivity and the social return of taxes

Abstract

The article analyzes the relationship between public communication, democratic legitimacy, and the formation of fiscal consciousness, arguing that the State’s capacity to produce meaning about its actions is a central element for building trust and civic belonging. Drawing on theoretical contributions from Rousseau, Habermas, Dewey, Rosanvallon, Giddens, Beck, Castells, Lipsky, Frey, and Grunig & Hunt, the text discusses how the intelligibility of public policies influences citizens’ perception of the fiscal pact. Subsequently, the study examines the Spanish case Lo que das, vuelve (What you give, comes back), identifying how the communication strategy of the Agencia Tributaria (Tax Agency) converts the tax system–abstract and complex–into a comprehensible narrative focused on the social return of taxes. The case highlights that effective public communication is not limited to formal transparency but involves translating state action into daily experiences, the symbolic mediation of trust, and the legitimate contestation for meanings in the public sphere. It concludes that the consolidation of fiscal consciousness depends on a “communicating State,” capable of continuously explaining, justifying, and demonstrating the collective value of taxation, thereby strengthening democratic reciprocity and citizens’ voluntary cooperation.