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AbstractThis article develops an explanatory framework of institutional change in intergovernmental relations. Using new institutionalism, we focus on a main explanatory factor—the players' perceptions of their own accountability and that of others. Integrating the concepts of multiple accountability and felt accountability, we develop the concept of an accountability gap, meaning differences between the perceptions of players in the central government about their responsibility to provide local services and the perceptions of players at the local level about their responsibilities. Our claim is that perceptual gaps concerning accountability in a two‐tiered or multi‐tiered system may influence their interests, strategies, and behavior and hence determine the timing and pace of specific institutional changes. We illustrate the theoretical framework by examining how Spain managed the COVID‐19 pandemic.Related ArticlesAguado, N. Alexander. 2018. "Mayor‐Council Form of Government and Policy Responses in Times of Economic Travail."Politics & Policy46(5): 714–30.https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12273.French, Edward P., and Doug Goodman. 2011. "Local Government Human Resource Management Past, Present, and Future: Revisiting Hays and Kearney's Anticipated Changes a Decade Later."Politics & Policy39(5): 761–85.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00312.x.Kwon, Sung‐Wook, and Sylvia Gonzalez‐Gorman. 2019. "Influence of Local Political Institutions on Policy Punctuation in Three Policy Areas."Politics & Policy47(2): 300–25.https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12295.