Interrogating regional territorial representation in post-democratic Spain

ABSTRACT

In this article, we examine the function of territorial representation by national cabinet ministers in multi-ethnic democracies. In particular, we observe whether ministers from regions with a specific identity shape a distinctive sense of representation in the national executive, and whether this depends on how political parties and the party system articulate it. Borrowing from Pitkin’s four dimensions of political representation, we investigate the recruitment and role of ministers from the three distinct Spanish regions of the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia. This paper stresses that these ministers have played a distinctly territorial representative role in the national cabinet quite unlike that of ministers from other Spanish regions. Nevertheless, it is worth noting the poorest performance of Catalan ministers in relation to their Basque and Galician counterparts in terms of descriptive representation, levels of partisanship, survival rates and appointment to certain portfolios.

KEYWORDS:

• Basque Country
• Catalonia
• centre–periphery
• elites
• Galicia
• Spain

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors want to thank the editors and the referees of Territory, Politics and Governance for their patience and comments.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION STATEMENT

Juan Rodríguez Teruel: Conception, dataset, tables, figures, theoretical framework, interpretation, writing. Jean-Baptiste Harguindéguy: Conception, tables, figures, theoretical framework, writing, references. Fabiola Mota Consejero: Tables, figures, references.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

An Appendix is available in the online supplemental data. It contains two tables (A1 and A2) with the raw data used in this research.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ETHICS STATEMENT

This study did not involve any human or animal subjects.

Notes

1 The co-officiality of the vernacular languages spoken in these three regions (Galician, Basque and Catalan, along with Aranese) was guaranteed by their respective statutes of autonomy after the reestablishment of democracy. Other regions followed suit, for instance, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community (Catalan language) and Navarre (Basque language). The other languages (Astur in Asturias, Leonese and Galician in Castile and Leon, and Aragonese in Aragon) are not co-official.

2 The prime minister was ordinarily the leader of the winning party.

3 Regional parties actively supported the PP in 1996 (backed by CiU, the PNV and the Canarian Coalition-CC), the PSOE in 2004 (ERC, CC, BNG and the Aragonese Union), the PP in 2016 (the CC, Asturian Forum and Union of the Navarrese People) and the PSOE in 2019 (the Regionalist Party of Cantabria). In the meantime, the PNV refused the appointment of its president, Xabier Arzalluz, as minister of Industry in 1993 (El País, 2020). In the same way, the CiU did not agree to Miquel Roca – one of its leaders – becoming minister of Foreign Affairs in 2002 (El País, 2002).

4 The importance of Castile and Leon is due to two main factors. First, the region is one of the lowest populated of the country and every cabinet member can disequilibrate the final results. Secondly, Madrid has attracted important immigration from Castile and Leon’s inhabitants and several connections appeared between the capital and this hinterland. Castile and Leon’s high score is explained by the presence of premiers Adolfo Suárez and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (born in Castile and Leon) and José María Aznar (born in Madrid but elected in Castile and Leon), along with their ministerial staffs (e.g., Rafael Calvo, Ángel Acebes, Ana Pastor, Jesús Posada and Jesús Caldera).

5 The UCD was founded in 1977 by Adolfo Suárez to lead the democratic transition in Spain. Despite its centre-right orientation, it included social-democratic and regionalist members. This led to its implosion in 1983.

6 Piqué was appointed as a non-partisan minister close to the Catalan region. Once in the cabinet, Aznar suggested that he join the PP and become the party leader in Catalonia.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by grant PID2021-123861NB-I00 funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.