Senior public officials and multilevel performance of Spanish State

El presente trabajo pretende analizar y comprender qué posición y visión tiene la alta función pública del Estado de la cooperación y coordinación en un contexto de fuerte descentralización política interna y de gran complejidad externa cual es el español. La selección de la alta función pública como instrumento para conocer el funcionamiento del Estado se justifica por las funciones que desarrolla, su cercanía al proceso decisional y la investigación comparada, que destaca sus funciones adhesivas y lubricantes en sistemas políticos complejos. La investigación ha implicado definir la relación existente entre alta función pública y coordinación y, respecto de esta última, establecer un concepto operativo inspirado en la obra de Metcalfe. Los resultados derivan de un trabajo empírico consistente en confrontar la escala de coordinación con las percepciones de los Administradores Civiles del Estado (cuerpo generalista de élite de la Administración general del Estado en España) y con entrevistas a importantes académicos y miembros de dicho cuerpo. Las conclusiones sugieren, por una parte, que el tejido organizativo e institucional que garantiza la coordinación multinivel en España no es el adecuado para la complejidad territorial del Estado español y, por otra, la posibilidad de replicar el estudio en otros niveles de gobierno interno e incluso a nivel internacional.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