Beyond identities: political determinants of support for decentralisation in contemporary Spain

Abstract

Support for decentralisation has generally been considered an outcome derived from the existence of regional or sub-national identities. A recent alternative explanation has highlighted the role of politics to create a regionally-oriented support. We combine these two explanations by studying what determines the support for decentralisation in Spain, an almost unique case where these two approaches can be combined. Using a hierarchical model, we show that in those regions without a different sub-national identity, some citizens develop a regionally-oriented support because of its support to bring the administration closer to the citizens and because their preferred party is pushing for further decentralisation. In addition, we highlight the importance of considering decentralisation as an endogenous process, in which party dynamics are able to shape political attitudes towards decentralisation.