Two hundred years of administrative reforms in Portugal and Spain: from patrimonialism to managerialism

Abstract

The objective of this essay is to compare the administrative reforms that took place in the national governments of Portugal and Spain. The dimensions of analysis are: the doctrines of the reforms, their justifications and their underlying values; the policy leadership, its implementation styles and instruments; the external induction and the resistances to change. The observed transition landmarks are: the patrimonialist transition, the bureaucratic transition and the managerial transition. We carried out a literature review on public management paradigms and administrative reforms in Portugal and Spain, in addition to consulting official documents of the two national governments. As conclusions, some similarities were identified between the reform processes regarding the contents of the reforms and their underlying values and justifications, and the preference for the legal instrument of policy change (laws, decrees, regulations), as well as the leadership and implementation style. Regarding the differences, Portugal is perceived as more permeable to external induction than Spain. Comparing the transition processes, recent managerial reforms have relied on networked policy entrepreneurs, using a variety of instruments (in addition to legislative change), a pattern visibly modified after the redemocratization and after Portugal and Spain joined the European Union.