UNA PRIMERA APROXIMACIÓN CUANTITATIVA A LA DESCENTRALIZACIÓN DE LOS PARTIDOS DE ÁMBITO ESTATAL EN EL ESTADO DE LAS AUTONOMÍAS: ¿HAY DIFERENCIAS ENTRE EL PSOE Y EL PP?

The aim of this article is double. First of all, it is argued that when studyingthe possible effects of the political decentralization on state-wide politicalparties it is necessary to distinguish a structural dimension of other one relatedto the vertical distribution of power, as well as some indicators tomeasure this second dimension are offered. This is the first step that is necessaryto give to test if it is true that state decentralization involves state-wideparty decentralization. Secondly the structural dimension is studied in thecases of the PSOE and of the PP, and the above mentioned indicators areused to compare the degree of power of the top regional party leaders bothparties of 17 ‘autonomous regions’ from 1983. The article concludes that thedecentralization of the Spanish State seems to have affected to the structureof both parties, that at present the PP does not seems to be more centralizedthan the Spanish socialist party, as the qualitative literature suggests, andtentatively that the grade of internal decentralization in both party has beenreduced, although to confirm this it is necessary to compare the Spanish casewith that of other countries