The Hidden Counterpoint of Spanish Federalism: Recentralization and Resymmetrization in Spain (1978–2008)

Máiz, Ramón; Caamaño, Francisco; Azpitarte, Miguel

doi:10.1080/13597560903174923

Cited by 35 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…However, the State of the Autonomies did not prevent the development of further demands for self‐government in regions such as Catalonia or the Basque Country. On the other hand, at the central level, the autonomic system also featured a strong tendency towards homogenising policies that resulted in increasing tensions around the accommodation of minority nations (Maiz et al ; Serrano ). As a result, Catalan nationalism progressively moved towards a pro‐independence platform.…”

Section: Arguing For Secession In Scotland and Cataloniamentioning

confidence: 99%

Between a principled and a consequentialist logic: theory and practice of secession in Catalonia and Scotland

Mulle

Serrano

2018

Nations and Nationalism

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This paper inquires into whether the three types of arguments usually formulated in the normative literature on the legitimacy of secessioni.e. communitarian, choice, and remedial argumentsare articulated (or not) by separatist parties in Catalonia and Scotland. It concludes that these actors do use such arguments, but they tend to merge them in different combinations making a pluralist case for independence rather than developing monist reasoning as most political philosophers do. Furthermore, it finds a fourth type of argument which is under-theorised in the relevant literature. This is an instrumental argument whereby independence is depicted not as an end in itself, but as a means to achieve better welfare and governance for the national population. It further proposes a fourfold theoretical scheme that links communitarian and choice arguments to a principled logic based on the belief in the existence of an absolute right to self-determination and remedial and instrumental arguments to a consequentialist logic that legitimates secession on the condition that it serves the achievement of specific ends.

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Section: Arguing For Secession In Scotland and Cataloniamentioning

confidence: 99%

Between a principled and a consequentialist logic: theory and practice of secession in Catalonia and Scotland

Mulle

Serrano

2018

Nations and Nationalism

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“…want the same thing in terms of a territorial solution for Catalonia, nor do all those against the process wish to continue as they are in a recentralised and resymmetrised State of Autonomies (Máiz, Caamaño, & Azpitarte, 2010). We have seen that there exists a space of plural community, full of nuances, of citizens hoping for more creative and flexible, less static political solutions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the Spanish State of Autonomies is no exception, evolves via inevitable tension between processes of centralisation and decentralisation or, to put it another way, by means of trends and counter-trends of federalisation (decentralisation and asymmetry) and defederalisation (recentralisation and resymmetrisation) (Beramendi & Máiz, 2004, Máiz, Caamaño, & Azpitarte, 2010.…”

Section: For An Evolutionist Concept Of Federation and Federalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catalonia: Federalism or Secession?

Máiz¹,

Lagares²,

Pereira³

2018

OJPS

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Is there a political space for a possible federal accommodation of the demands of self-government in Catalonia and how is it configured? In order to answer these questions, we address first the conceptualization of federalism, and then, from an evolutionary perspective, we focus on the "Catalan issue" and its institutional outputs. The general assumption, in political and media discourse, namely, that "being in favour of the independence process", "wanting to separate from Spain" and "being nationalist" constitute a single argument and mean exactly the same, has served to conceal a debate that is very complex, plural and full of nuances. We pose an analysis that pivots on the identity question and the type of political-territorial solution, the importance of the different leaderships in the process and the party identification with respect to the constructive nature of the political preferences of the electors and their positioning on the issues.

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“…As Bossacoma and Sanjaume-Calvet suggest, it is not clear if the Spanish Constitution defended asymmetry in the past but now it seems that "it was a transitory and potential asymmetry more than a permanent and actual asymmetry" (Bossacoma Busquets and Sanjaume-Calvet 2019, p. 457). Confusion in evaluating these three models has meant that in Spain a series of political actions are carried out that, in practice, go against the very idea of political decentralisation of power (Linz 1999;Maiz et al 2010). Related to this, the second consequence of this lack of acceptance of plurinationality in Spain is the existence of a highly centripetal dynamic in the political relation amongst the political actors, which prefer to maximise the adversarial component ("seeing the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and paying no attention to the plank in your own eye") instead of exploring the possibilities, which are more costly and have a less certain outcome, of using a political language, a strategy and a framework of alliances that is more consociational and inclusive in national terms.…”

Section: National Intersubjectivity and Plurinational Governmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Spanish Plurinational Labyrinth. Practical Reasons for Criticising the Nationalist Bias of Others While Ignoring One’s Own Nationalist Position

Moreno

2019

Genealogy

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To analyse the Spanish national question requires considering the relationship between the idea of the nation and the phenomenon of nationalism on one side, and the question of political plurality on the other. The approval of the Constitutional text 40 years ago was achieved thanks to a delicate semantic balancing act concerning the concept of nation, whose interpretation remains open. Academic studies of public opinion, such as the famous Linz-Moreno Question—also known as Moreno Question—that measures the possible mixture of Spanish subjective national identity, are equally the object of wide controversy. The extent to which political plurinationality is a suitable concept for defining the country is not clear because, amongst other reasons, the political consequences that might derive from adopting the concept are unknown. This article sets out the thesis that Spain is a plurinational labyrinth since there is neither consensus nor are there discursive strategies that might help in forming an image of the country in national terms. The paradox of this labyrinth is that, since the approval of the Constitution in 1978, the political actors have accepted that nationality in Spain is insoluble without taking the plurinational idea into account. But, at the same time, it is not easy to assume such plurinationality in practical terms because the political cost to those actors that openly defend national plurality is very high. For this reason, political discourses in Spain on the national question offer a highly ambiguous scenario, where the actors seek windows of opportunity and are reluctant to take risks in order to solve this puzzle situation. The aim of this paper is to analyse which indicators are most efficient for testing how the different actors position themselves facing the phenomenon of the Spanish plurinational labyrinth. The clearest examples are what we refer to here as the concepts of (i) intersubjective national identity and (ii) plurinational governments.

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The Hidden Counterpoint of Spanish Federalism: Recentralization and Resymmetrization in Spain (1978–2008)

Cited by 35 publications

References 8 publications

Between a principled and a consequentialist logic: theory and practice of secession in Catalonia and Scotland

Between a principled and a consequentialist logic: theory and practice of secession in Catalonia and Scotland

Catalonia: Federalism or Secession?

The Spanish Plurinational Labyrinth. Practical Reasons for Criticising the Nationalist Bias of Others While Ignoring One’s Own Nationalist Position

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