Striving for Local Governance Capacity in Portugal and Spain

Abstract

Despite the well-known differences regarding the level of devolution in Portugal and Spain, inter-municipal associations (IMAs) emerged as a relevant piece of the institutional systems. The strategies to foster these bodies, however, have been different. While Portugal opted to promote them very clearly, on the verge of employing a top-down logic, Spanish authorities are trying to control IMAs and even reduce their number. Despite the different scenarios, both countries are striving to ensure the governance capacity of inter-municipal collaborative endeavours, struggling for the emergency of a new political actor able to function effectively. This chapter seeks to present an index of governance capacity and measure the performance of both countries across the different dimensions of the index.