Party Strategies on Territorial Reform: State-wide Parties and the State of Autonomies in Spain

Abstract

This article examines the interaction between political decentralisation and state-wide parties’ strategies on territorial politics using Spain as a case study. It finds that electoral and territorial logics of action largely drive change. Parties in central government often become reluctant decentralisers as they seek to control the devolution process, unless they need the support of regionalist parties, whereas opposition parties tend to push for further decentralisation. Yet party strategies maintain a significant continuity over time as they are bound to particular ideologies which, in multinational countries, might translate into specific preferences for the territorial accommodation of culturally distinct regions. The article also shows that, under certain circumstances, some logics of action prevail over the others. Finally, while party politics significantly influences decentralisation, the article provides evidence of feedback effects of decentralisation on party strategies.