Suchergebnisse

This thesis focuses on the secessionist tendencies in two Spanish regions – The Basque Country and Catalonia. The aim of this thesis is to examine the factors that have triggered secession demands in these two cases. The thesis establishes a theoretical framework which embraces three causal determinants with regards to democratic secessionist mobilization. Firstly, it is argued that a cultural solidarity based on common cultural markers is an essential factor for any secession movement to emerge. Secondly, a relative economic advantage and fiscal issues may also pave the way for decisions concerning secessions. Thirdly, the political factors such as discontent with the state-wide policies and the existence of regional parties are also regarded as crucial determinants of secessionist mobilization. Having applied this framework to the cases of Basques and Catalonia, it was shown that cultural based determinants have little relevance to the empirical cases. In spite of the existence of a regional language, the data revealed that both regions can be regarded more as culturally fragmented rather than as homogenous. From the economic point of view, it was argued that both regions may be described as relatively affluent with respect to the Spanish state. However, the economic determinants were proved to be of much higher importance in the case of Catalonia. This is due to the Spanish fiscal policies and a specific fiscal arrangement applied to the Basque Country that allows the Basque Country to enjoy some degree of fiscal autonomy. The analysis of political factors showed that the institutional decentralization in both cases positively affects secessionist tendencies by providing regional parties with better representation in political arena. Thus, discontent with state-wide policies can be expressed. However, while Catalan political discourse is clearly secession-oriented, the Basque case shows quite a different trend. In The Basque Country there is a nationalist division which is reflected through the two main regional parties with distinct ideological backgrounds.

This thesis focuses on the secessionist tendencies in two Spanish regions – The Basque Country and Catalonia. The aim of this thesis is to examine the factors that have triggered secession demands in these two cases. The thesis establishes a theoretical framework which embraces three causal determinants with regards to democratic secessionist mobilization. Firstly, it is argued that a cultural solidarity based on common cultural markers is an essential factor for any secession movement to emerge. Secondly, a relative economic advantage and fiscal issues may also pave the way for decisions concerning secessions. Thirdly, the political factors such as discontent with the state-wide policies and the existence of regional parties are also regarded as crucial determinants of secessionist mobilization. Having applied this framework to the cases of Basques and Catalonia, it was shown that cultural based determinants have little relevance to the empirical cases. In spite of the existence of a regional language, the data revealed that both regions can be regarded more as culturally fragmented rather than as homogenous. From the economic point of view, it was argued that both regions may be described as relatively affluent with respect to the Spanish state. However, the economic determinants were proved to be of much higher importance in the case of Catalonia. This is due to the Spanish fiscal policies and a specific fiscal arrangement applied to the Basque Country that allows the Basque Country to enjoy some degree of fiscal autonomy. The analysis of political factors showed that the institutional decentralization in both cases positively affects secessionist tendencies by providing regional parties with better representation in political arena. Thus, discontent with state-wide policies can be expressed. However, while Catalan political discourse is clearly secession-oriented, the Basque case shows quite a different trend. In The Basque Country there is a nationalist division which is reflected through the two main regional parties with distinct ideological backgrounds.

This thesis focuses on the secessionist tendencies in two Spanish regions – The Basque Country and Catalonia. The aim of this thesis is to examine the factors that have triggered secession demands in these two cases. The thesis establishes a theoretical framework which embraces three causal determinants with regards to democratic secessionist mobilization. Firstly, it is argued that a cultural solidarity based on common cultural markers is an essential factor for any secession movement to emerge. Secondly, a relative economic advantage and fiscal issues may also pave the way for decisions concerning secessions. Thirdly, the political factors such as discontent with the state-wide policies and the existence of regional parties are also regarded as crucial determinants of secessionist mobilization. Having applied this framework to the cases of Basques and Catalonia, it was shown that cultural based determinants have little relevance to the empirical cases. In spite of the existence of a regional language, the data revealed that both regions can be regarded more as culturally fragmented rather than as homogenous. From the economic point of view, it was argued that both regions may be described as relatively affluent with respect to the Spanish state. However, the economic determinants were proved to be of much higher importance in the case of Catalonia. This is due to the Spanish fiscal policies and a specific fiscal arrangement applied to the Basque Country that allows the Basque Country to enjoy some degree of fiscal autonomy. The analysis of political factors showed that the institutional decentralization in both cases positively affects secessionist tendencies by providing regional parties with better representation in political arena. Thus, discontent with state-wide policies can be expressed. However, while Catalan political discourse is clearly secession-oriented, the Basque case shows quite a different trend. In The Basque Country there is a nationalist division which is reflected through the two main regional parties with distinct ideological backgrounds.