Gauging how politicians are supporting decentralization in Spain. The case of the new General Law of Budgetary Stability (Law 18/2001). 1

Abstract

The main proposal of this paper is to try to make calculable how politicians are favoring in their discourses, regarding the new General Law of Budgetary Stability approved in December 2001, the process, which is still taking place in Spain. For this goal the research offers a new approach through the construction of a of decentralization. The index of decentralization developed from the matrix goes from 9.69 for the family of arguments A (budgetary and financing autonomy) to only 3.33 for the family of arguments B (income redistribution and spending on social issues). It is remarkable how most of the political parties attacking the law and in opposition of the government reach 10.00 points. In other words, they are really supporting through their discourses. The political party in the government reaches only 3.80 points, but also he is offering decentralized arguments supporting the law.