Recognition and political accommodation: from regionalism to secessionism. The Catalan case

Having lived through a bloody civil war in the 1930s followed by four decades of General Franco’s dictatorship, the Spanish state carried out a transition to a democratic system at the end of the 1970s. The 1978 Constitution was the legal outcome of this transition process. Among other things, it established a territorial model – the so-called “Estado de las Autonomías” (State of Autonomous Communities) – which was designed to satisfy the historical demands for recognition and self-government of, above all, the citizens and institutions of Catalonia and the Basque Country .In recent years support for independence has increased in Catalonia. Different indicators show that pro-independence demands are endorsed by a majority of its citizens, as well as by most of the political parties and organizations that represent its civil society. This is a new phenomenon. Those in favour of independence had been in the minority throughout the 20th century. Nowadays, however, demands of a pro-autonomy and pro-federalist nature, which until recently had been dominant, have gradually lost public support in favour of demands for self-determination and secession. This paper analyses the massive increase in support for secession in Catalonia during the early years of the 21st century. After describing the different theories of secession in plurinational liberal democracies (section 1), we analyse Catalonia’s political evolution over the past decade focusing on the shortcomings with regard to constitutional recognition and accommodation displayed by the Spanish political system. The latter have been exacerbated by the reform process of Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy (2006) and the subsequent judgement of Spain’s Constitutional Court regarding the aforementioned Statute (2010) (section 2). Finally, we present our conclusions by linking the Catalan case with theories of secession applied to plurinational contexts

Federalism and democracy. The case of minority nations: a federalist deficit

In this chapter, after pointing out the different logics that lie behind the familiar ideas of democracy and federalism, I have dealt with the case of plurinational federal democracies. Having put forward a double criterion of an empirical nature with which to differentiate between the existence of minority nations within plurinational democracies (section 2), I suggest three theoretical criteria for the political accommodation of these democracies. In the following section, I show the agonistic nature of the normative discussion of the political accommodation of this kind of democracies, which bring monist and pluralist versions of the demos of the polity into conflict (section 3.1), as well as a number of conclusions which are the result of a comparative study of 19 federal and regional democracies using four analytical axes: the uninational/plurinational axis; the unitarianism-federalism axis; the centralisation-decentralisation axis; and the symmetry-asymmetry axis (section 3.2). This analysis reveals shortcomings in the constitutional recognition of national pluralism in federal and regional cases with a large number of federated units/regions with political autonomy; a lower degree of constitutional federalism and a greater asymmetry in the federated entities or regions of plurinational democracies. It also reveals difficulties to establish clear formulas in these democracies in order to encourage a “federalism of trust” based on the participation and protection of national minorities in the shared government of plurinational federations/regional states. Actually, there is a federal deficit in this kind polities according to normative liberal-democratic patterns and to what comparative analysis show. Finally, this chapter advocates the need for a greater normative and institutional refinement in plurinational federal democracies. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to introduce a deeper form of “ethical” pluralism -which displays normative agonistic trends, as well as a more “confederal/asymmetrical” perspective, congruent with the national pluralism of these kind of polities.

Pluralismo religioso, multiculturalidad y democracias liberales

Este WP analiza la regulación del pluralismo religioso en las democracias liberales como uno de los aspectos mas destacados de la creciente multiculturalidad de las democracias actuales. Tras situar el liberalismo político como fenómeno surgido de las guerras de religión europeas de los siglos XVI y XVII (sección 1), se establecen ocho elementos analíticos para el estudio de los fenómenos multiculturales (sección 2) y tres modelos de "integración" política en las democracias de raíz liberal (sección 3).

Three theories of liberalism for the three theories of federalism. A Hegelian turn

This paper links different political liberal theories, considered from the perspective of their moral ontology, with federal democracies. After giving a brief description of these theories, I discuss their relationship with the theoretical and institutional models of federalism. As methodological tools, the paper introduces some Hegel’s political concepts and deals with their potential application to the analysis of federalism, taken into account the case of minorities in multinational democracies. I postulate the need for a moral and institutional refinement of liberal-democratic patterns that is better able to accommodate national pluralism than has so far been achieved by traditional constitutionalism.

Cosmopolitan justice and minority rights: the case of minority nations (or Kant again, but different)

Global Justice has usually been understood to mean institutional and social justice (political and redistributive issues on a global scale). In contrast, issues involving different national and cultural identities, are usually marginal in reflections on global justice. This occurs despite the fact that human rights include political social and cultural rights. This paper links a conception of global justice, moral cosmopolitanism, with plurinational democracies. After giving a brief description of moral cosmopolitanism I go on to analyse notions of cosmopolitanism and patriotism in Kant's work and the political significance that the notion of "unsocial sociability" and the "Ideas of Pure Reason" of Kant's first Critique have for cosmopolitanism. Finally, I analyse the relationship between cosmopolitanism and minority nations based on the preceding sections. I postulate the need for a moral and institutional refinement of democracies and international society that is better able to accommodate national pluralism than has so far been achieved by traditional liberal constitutionalism and cosmopolitanism

How accurate are surveyed preferences for public policies? Evidence from a unique institutional setup

Opinion polls are widely used to capture public sentiments on a varietyof issues. If citizens are unwilling to reveal certain policy preferences toothers, opinion polls may fail to characterize population preferences accurately.The innovation of this paper is to use unique data to measurebiases in opinion polls for a broad range of policies. I combine data on184 referenda held in Switzerland between 1987 and 2007, with postballotsurveys that ask for each proposal how the citizens voted. Thedifference between stated preferences in the survey and revealed preferences at the ballot box provides a direct measure of bias in opinion polls.I find that these biases vary by policy areas, with the largest ones occurring in policies on immigration, international integration, and votesinvolving liberal/conservative attitudes. Also, citizens show a tendencyto respond in accordance to the majority.

The implicit theory of historical change in the work of Alan S. Milward

Alan S. Milward was an economic historian who developed an implicit theory ofhistorical change. His interpretation which was neither liberal nor Marxist positedthat social, political, and economic change, for it to be sustainable, had to be agradual process rather than one resulting from a sudden, cataclysmicrevolutionary event occurring in one sector of the economy or society. Benignchange depended much less on natural resource endowment or technologicaldevelopments than on the ability of state institutions to respond to changingpolitical demands from within each society. State bureaucracies were fundamentalto formulating those political demands and advising politicians of ways to meetthem. Since each society was different there was no single model of developmentto be adopted or which could be imposed successfully by one nation-state onothers, either through force or through foreign aid programs. Nor coulddevelopment be promoted simply by copying the model of a more successfuleconomy. Each nation-state had to find its own response to the political demandsarising from within its society. Integration occurred when a number of nation states shared similar political objectives which they could not meet individuallybut could meet collectively. It was not simply the result of their increasinginterdependence. It was how and whether nation-states responded to thesedomestic demands which determined the nature of historical change.

Productividad, competencia e innovación en la banca privada española (1900-1914)

This study investigates the productivity differences and its sourcesacross a set of banks during the last years of the liberal era of theSpanish banking system (1900-1914). These years were characterised bymajor qualitative and quantitative changes in the banking industry includinga sharp increase in the size of the system, in the number of firms, andin its regional distribution. Employing DEA productivity analysis andthe Malmquist index, we discover that these changes were accompanied bya generalised increase in the efficiency of least productive banks. Also,we observe that the crisis of some regional banking groups, like theCatalan, can be linked with its low productivity levels. In consequence,in the light of our productivity evidence, we conclude that the increasein competition was beneficial for the system because helped to the successof the most efficient banks.

Market institutions and judicial rulemaking

Assuming that the degree of discretion granted to judges was the main distinguishing feature between common and civil law until the 19th century, we argue that constraining judicial discretion was instrumental in protecting freedom of contract and developing the market order in civil law. We test this hypothesis by analyzing the history of Western law. In England, a unique institutional balance between the Crown and the Parliament guaranteed private property and prompted the gradual evolution towards a legal framework that facilitated market relationships, a process that was supported by the English judiciary. On the Continent, however, legal constraints on the market were suppressed in a top-down fashion by the founders of the liberal state, often against the will of the incumbent judiciary. Constraining judicial discretion there was essential for enforcing freedom of contract and establishing the legal order of the market economy. In line with this evidence, our selection hypothesis casts doubts on the normative interpretation of empirical results that proclaim the superiority of one legal system over another, disregarding the local conditions and institutional interdependencies on which each legal system was grounded.

Modernidad y racionalidad. Razón geométrica versus razón dialéctica

Analizamos el complejo desarrollo de la racionalidad entre los siglos XVII y principios del XIX. Hablamos de 'razón geométrica' porque la filosofía modema más vinculada a la Revolución científica asume el modelo euclideano como el más racional (si bien desarrollado sobre la modema matemática). Negamos toda identificación entre "razón geométrica" y positivismo, pues la primera manifiesta una intrínseca necesidad de autofundamentación y ontoteolbgica. La evolución de la subjetivación modema nos permite enlazarcon la "razón dialéctica". Analizamos su naturaleza dialéctica y diacrónica, su historicidad e irreductibilidad a reglas, y nos posicionamos sobre la cuestión del fin dela historia.

Republicanismo: el lugar de la virtud

No hay caracterización del republicanismo que no mencione la virtud cívica. Sin embargo, no siempre es clara la ubicación de la virtud en el entramado de la filosofía política republicana. Tomaré como punto de partida la reflexión de Rawls. Su temor es que la defensa de lo que la democracia necesita, la virtud cívica, ponga en peligro la libertad. Es lo que llamaré el «problema (de Rawls) con la virtud». Un problema que, a su parecer, compromete seriamente al republicanismo. Por mi parte, intentaré mostrar que, en realidad, se trata de un problema del liberalismo que apunta directamente a una bien conocida tensión entre los derechos y la democracia, cuya única «solución liberal» pasa por atrincherar los derechos «frente a la democracia», excluyendo el compromiso ciudadano. En la segunda parte mostraré que el problema es real, pero que no afecta a todos los republicanismos y argumentaré que «el problema de Rawls» afecta, fundamentalmente, a aquel republicanismo que hace de la «realización ciudadana» su objetivo, que busca, por así decir, maximizar la virtud. No sucede lo mismo con aquel otro que otorga a la virtud un carácter instrumental. En la parte final precisaré esa idea de republicanismo que otorga tanto a la virtud como a la democracia un papel instrumental en lo que realmente importa: la libertad.

Vicente Cacho Viu (1929-1997), in memoriam

On the occasion of the recent death of the madrilenian culture historian Vicente Cacho Viu, the authors expose the main lines of his historical work. They point out the importance of Cacho's research on the periord of the Restauración, mainly his studies on the liberal education institution Institución Libre de Enseñanza. They also consider Cacho's interest in Catalonia, remembering the time he spent teaching at Barcelona University, paying attention to his works on catalan modernisme. The article includes a systematic bibliography of Cacho's works.

Vicente Cacho Viu (1929-1997), in memoriam

On the occasion of the recent death of the madrilenian culture historian Vicente Cacho Viu, the authors expose the main lines of his historical work. They point out the importance of Cacho's research on the periord of the Restauración, mainly his studies on the liberal education institution Institución Libre de Enseñanza. They also consider Cacho's interest in Catalonia, remembering the time he spent teaching at Barcelona University, paying attention to his works on catalan modernisme. The article includes a systematic bibliography of Cacho's works.

El "pluralismo razonable" de J. Rawls

El pluralismo es la ideología de nuestro tiempo. Elevado a criterio de valor, la ética, la ciencia, la religión o la democracia, para ser dignas y legítimas necesitan presentarse como pluralistas. El liberalismo, que ayer se definía como esencialmente individualista, hoy se proclama pluralista y hace del culto a la diversidad su propia excelencia. No es unaexageración decir que el pluralismo político define al estado liberal democrático de nuestras sociedades. Con este presupuesto hemos llevado a cabo la reflexión de dos tesis. Una, la relación entre el liberalismo clásico, individualista, con el liberalismo contemporáneo, pluralista, confrontando sus respectivas ideas de individuo y estado, y argumentando la identidad de fondo entre ambos discursos. Otra, la idea rawlsiana de "pluralismo razonable", revelando sus presupuestos ontológicos, explicitando su función política y criticando sus carencias teóricas y practicas, defendiendo la tesis de la impotencia teórica del discurso del pluralismo liberal para pensar las diferencias ontológicas prepolíticas,especialmente la diversidad étnica.

Les llengües en els òrgans centrals de l'Estat espanyol (un balanç de 25 anys de la CE)

L'article de Boix fa un balanç de les llengües en els òrgans centrals de l'Estat espanyol al llarg de 25 anys de la Constitució espanyola. L'article està bastit a partir de dos blocs: el primer és una presentació històrica de la relació entre l'Estat i les llengües, i el segon és una valoració per part del propi autor sobre les necessitats actuals de la política lingüística estatal. En el primer apartat s'aborden els aspectes que segueixen: 1) l'escassa consideració del multilingüisme a Espanya, tal com s'ha fet evident amb diferents fets històrics que s'esmenten. 2) Les divergències en les consideracions de la diversitat lingüística en la política; aquestes consideracions són el liberalisme homogeneitzador (en què la diversitat lingüística es considera equivalent a fragilitat de l'Estat) i el liberalisme comunitarista (on l'estat liberal ha de tenir en compte la promoció de la diversitat cultural i lingüística dels ciutadans). 3) El reconeixement legal de la diversitat lingüística en la transició política i