Political Alternation in the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands (Palgrave Studies in Sub-National Governance)

"In this innovative study, Dr Ruel explores why political alternation--a bedrock of democratic functioning--has been largely absent in three under-studied regions in Portugal and Spain. Focusing on Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands, this book explains how party competition, intra-party democracy and regional economic performance have contributed to political party stasis since the return of democracy in the mid-1970s." --Paul M. Heywood, Sir Francis Hill Professor of European Politics seconded 0.5 FTE to Global Integrity, Washington DC (2018-21), Faculty of Social Science, University of Nottingham, UK This book is about political alternation. It's about parties and politicians. It's about power and resources employed to secure longevity in power over time at Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. This book explores the phenomenon of political alternation through an in-depth contextual understanding of the path of regional historical legacies at democratization and decentralization processes started in the 1970s; the institutional architectures and the scope of regional authority endowed in those regions; the specific dynamics of regional politics; and the constellation of political parties and actors and the regional elections results, as well as contextual factors that might explain why some political parties have better performances than other at regional elections. Throughout comparative lessons Ruel seeks to highlight the range of factors that affect regional electoral dynamics and outcomes and to develop a comprehensive understanding of the drivers of long-standing incumbency (Azores and Canary Islands) or the absence of political alternation (Madeira) within regional democracies. Teresa Ruel is Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Aveiro, Portugal. She received her PhD in Political Science in 2015 from the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal. Her main interests are related to topics of territorial politics, regional politics, regional elections in Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands, and the quality of democracy at sub-national levels Preface 7 Acknowledgments 10 Contents 12 Abbreviations 13 List of Tables 16 Part I 17 Chapter 1: Setting the Scene: Introduction 18 1.1 Introduction 18 1.2 Decentralization of the State: The Emergence of the Regions 20 1.3 Setting the Scene: The Framework of Analysis 21 1.3.1 Case Studies 22 1.3.2 The Structure of the Book 25 References 26 Primary Sources 26 Secondary Sources 26 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework and Literature Review 29 2.1 Introduction 29 2.2 What Is Democracy?: A Minimalist Approach 30 2.3 Party Competition 34 2.4 Political Alternation: A Bird Eye View 37 2.5 Chapter Final Remarks 43 References 43 Chapter 3: Mapping the Cases: The Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands 49 3.1 Introduction 49 3.2 Portugal: The Structure of the State—Unitary and Decentralized 50 3.3 Azores and Madeira: The Institutional Arrangements 58 3.3.1 Political Institutions and Regional Authority 58 3.3.2 Electoral System and the Party Systems 59 3.3.3 The Cornerstone of Regional Autonomy: Fiscal Autonomy 61 3.4 Spain: The State of Autonomies (Estado de las Autonomias) 63 3.4.1 The Canary Islands: The ‘Insularism’ of Regional Authority 68 3.4.2 Political Institutions and Regional Authority 70 3.4.3 Electoral Rules and the Party Systems 71 3.4.4 The Regional Financing System: Sources and Allocation of Resources 72 3.5 Chapter Final Remarks 74 References 75 Primary Sources 75 Secondary Sources 75 Part II 82 Chapter 4: Party Competition at Regional Level 83 4.1 Introduction 83 4.2 Regional Elections 83 4.3 Patterns of Party Competition 97 4.4 Turnout at Regional Elections 105 4.5 Chapter Final Remarks 107 References 108 Primary Sources 108 Secondary Sources 108 Chapter 5: Intra-party Democracy 112 5.1 Introduction 112 5.2 The Regional Branches of State-Wide Parties 112 5.3 The Regional Party Structures 114 5.4 Party Leaders and Longevity at Central Office 124 5.5 Chapter Final Remarks 127 References 128 Primary Sources 128 Secondary Sources 129 Chapter 6: Regional Economic Performance 133 6.1 Introduction 133 6.2 Regional Economic Performance 133 6.3 Regional GDP and Employment 136 6.4 Regional Public Debt 140 6.5 Citizens’ Perceptions of the Regional Economy 145 6.6 Chapter Final Remarks 148 References 149 Primary Sources 149 Secondary Sources 149 Chapter 7: Conclusions 154 References 160 Primary Sources 160 Secondary Sources 160 Index 162 "In this innovative study, Dr Ruel explores why political alternation--a bedrock of democratic functioning--has been largely absent in three under-studied regions in Portugal and Spain. Focusing on Madeira, the Azores and the Canary Islands, this book explains how party competition, intra-party democracy and regional economic performance have contributed to political party stasis since the return of democracy in the mid-1970s."--Paul M. Heywood, Sir Francis Hill Professor of European Politics seconded 0.5 FTE to Global Integrity, Washington DC (2018-21), Faculty of Social Science, University of Nottingham, UK This book is about political alternation. It's about parties and politicians. It's about power and resources employed to secure longevity in power over time at Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands. This book explores the phenomenon of political alternation through an in-depth contextual understanding of the path of regional historical legacies at democratization and decentralization processes started in the 1970s; the institutional architectures and the scope of regional authority endowed in those regions; the specific dynamics of regional politics; and the constellation of political parties and actors and the regional elections results, as well as contextual factors that might explain why some political parties have better performances than other at regional elections. Throughout comparative lessons Ruel seeks to highlight the range of factors that affect regional electoral dynamics and outcomes and to develop a comprehensive understanding of the drivers of long-standing incumbency (Azores and Canary Islands) or the absence of political alternation (Madeira) within regional democracies. Teresa Ruel is Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Aveiro, Portugal. She received her PhD in Political Science in 2015 from the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal. Her main interests are related to topics of territorial politics, regional politics, regional elections in Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands, and the quality of democracy at sub-national levels.-- Provided by publisher Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Setting the Scene: Introduction (Teresa Ruel)....Pages 3-13 Theoretical Framework and Literature Review (Teresa Ruel)....Pages 15-34 Mapping the Cases: The Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands (Teresa Ruel)....Pages 35-67 Front Matter ....Pages 69-69 Party Competition at Regional Level (Teresa Ruel)....Pages 71-99 Intra-party Democracy (Teresa Ruel)....Pages 101-121 Regional Economic Performance (Teresa Ruel)....Pages 123-143 Conclusions (Teresa Ruel)....Pages 145-152 Back Matter ....Pages 153-157