The Federalization of Spain

Abstract

The book deals primarily with the process of devolution in the country, which was initiated with the transition to democracy after the death of General Franco. Since 1978, Spain has gone through a simultaneous process of democratization and decentralization. The frist chapter discusses theortical conceopts sucha as centre and periphery, ethnic group, federalism, nation-building, nationalism and state-formation. A review of the historial background of Spain is followed by the analysis of the trasnfers of political powers to "historical nationalities" -Basque country, Catalonia, Galicia- and regions. An explanatory model of multiple ethnoterritorial concurrence is put forward and refers to asymmetry and heterogeneity among territorially-based political fromations. The final chapter of the book deals with the dual identity expressed by a majority of Spaniards, and future scenarios for a federalized Spain. The book is discussed in a comparative framework, using the Spanish experience to explore the more general quetsion of regional and national accommodation in states of plural composition. The Spanish caase offers the possibility of formulating medium-range generalizations that can be extrapolated to countries of analogous charcateristics.

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