Abstract
This preliminary quantitative analysis provides some evidence of the role played by regionalist and left-wing parties in the development of region-specific models of welfare in Spain. It is shown that territorial mobilisation has had an important positive effect on regional welfare building. Such effect has been both direct and indirect. Indeed, given the moderate flexibility of constitutional arrangements in Spain, regions characterised by high levels of territorial mobilisation have had the chance to obtain special autonomy by participating in bilateral bargaining with central authorities. However, the latter have also tried to promote processes of ‘re-symmetrisation’ by also empowering ‘ordinary’ regions. In this context the ‘direct’ positive effect of territorial mobilisation, holding institutional asymmetries constant, has also been important in regional welfare politics. On the other hand, the Left, and particularly its main party, the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), does not seem to have encouraged the development of regional welfare policies that are ‘disconnected’ from central control and coordination.
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Vampa, D. (2016). Spain: Finding a Balance Between Territorial Equality and Strong Regional Identities. In: The Regional Politics of Welfare in Italy, Spain and Great Britain. Comparative Territorial Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39007-9_6
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