“规模”之外:西班牙城市协会能够战胜碎片化吗?——以加泰罗尼亚为例

Beyond size:Overcoming fragmentation by inter-municipal associations in Spain?The case of Catalonia

西班牙地方体制高度碎片化且存在大量地方管辖机构。能够缓解这一状况的办法之一就是城市协会,通过协会,市镇成员得以更好地提供服务,同时提升解决问题的能力。不过市镇的人口规模并非唯一重要的因素,事实上,规模的其他维度(例如成员的数量、制度化水平)也很重要。本文通过研究西班牙加泰罗尼亚地区的城市协会,分析关键因素及解释变量,探讨有关规模的不同维度。

The Spanish local system is characterised by strong fragmentation and a large number of local territorial entities.One of the possible ways of compensating for this small size is through associations of municipalities,which may empower their members to provide better services and may increase their ability to solve problems.However,the size of the municipalities may not be the only important factor.Indeed,other dimensions of size,such as the number of members or the size of the institution as an indicator of the degree of institutionalisation,can be taken into account.In this article,we explore the inter-municipal associations in an area of Spain(Catalonia)in order to identify and analyse the key factors and explanatory variables,and to explore different dimensions of the concept of size.