Senior public officials and multilevel performance of Spanish State

Abstract

In this research, the author aims to conduct an intergovernmental analysis on high public function of the Spanish State, based on the premise that senior officials are a critical actor for the governance of societies and they constitute too a good instrument to know basic aspects of the performance of states, such as coordination between levels of government. Institutional and legal aspects have been well documented in recent Spanish intergovernmental research, yet the role of senior officials in the multilevel political situation is less often studied. Within this framework, the main specific objective is to show that senior officials of the Spanish General State Administration (AGE in Spanish) are a relevant actor to explain the multilevel performance in Spain, given their outstanding participation in multilevel coordination and cooperation. The research methodology has incorporated, in addition to the consultation of the published available sources, an empirical work applied on the Cuerpo Superior de Administradores Civiles del Estado, the only collective of the AGE with a generalist dimension who participates in the formulation and implementation of intergovernmental policies and besides with a significant presence in the cooperation and coordination bodies between levels of government. Results reveal, first, the relevance to examine high public officials from the approach of the Intergovernmental Relations (IGR). Secondly, the analysis confirms that senior public officials are essential to understand the current performance of Spanish State and its possibilities for improvement. In this sense, an operational concept of intergovernmental coordination was designed by the researcher from different authors support (e.g., Less Metcalfe or Robert Agranoff) and a scale was established for its qualitative measurement; this concept and scale were successfully (in his opinion) applied in the empirical work. As a finding, it was possible to verify that Spanish model of IGR is today basically cooperative, although it is gaining space quickly a conflictive view of the relations between the State (national level) and Autonomous Communities, as well as a tendency to separate management. Besides, the improvement of multilevel coordination appeared clearly as a challenge.