Local Governance in a Context of Multilevel Governance

Abstract

Local governance is defined by the political and institutional processes adopted by local authorities to achieve stable and durable economic and social development in the long term. From this perspective, governance in the Spanish local system is a direct responsibility of the municipalities, but it is also affected by the territorial planning of the State of Autonomies. This situation requires differentiating between local governance and the stability of municipal executives, which are interrelated but distinct. This chapter analyzes the governance of municipal governments following the division of politics into the structure, process, and public action. The first part exposes the current state of the municipal government system in Spain and its institutional architecture. The second part includes the main transformations that local political agents have undergone, the types of investitures and plenary support that support the mayors, and the lobbying capacity of the municipalities. The third part presents an analysis of the institutional transparency of local and provincial governments and the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in municipal and provincial public policy agendas in a multilevel environment. Finally, we conclude with a synthesis of the different elements that affect the governance of municipalities in a context characterized by the presence of different ecological scales of institutions and agents.