0000000000639740

AUTHOR

Joaquim M. Molins

Local interest groups and the perception of power in Spanish cities

Studies on local interest groups have generated a considerable number of theories on urban power that have eventually become the basis of far-reaching approaches on democracy and collective action. Such literature has been especially concerned with discovering who governs the city, paving the way for discussions on elitism, pluralism and urban regimes. Some approaches consider that the business elite dominates local politics, while other theories assert that interests other than business (neighbors, environmentalists, faith-based organizations, civic groups) have been gaining relevance and access to local government. The POLLEADER survey (2006) provided data on the influence of certain soci…

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Institutional Change in Spanish Chambers of Commerce

This chapter explains the evolution of the chambers of commerce in Spain. The chambers have always faced political and associative tensions, generating tremendous internal instability, and multiple attempts to make them disappear. They adopted a public model with a mandatory fee in the early days. The Dictatorship decided to convert them into public agencies and cancel their representative aspirations. In the democratic era, several legal reforms have decreed that chambers of commerce are corporations under public law with voluntary affiliation. Pressure from voluntary business associations has been crucial in this regard. Both compulsory membership and the mandatory fee disappeared as a co…

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Institutioneller Wandel der spanischen Industrie- und Handelskammern

Die Geschichte der spanischen Industrie- und Handelskammern ist durch die Auseinandersetzung zwischen offentlichen Autoritaten und freiwilligen Wirtschaftsverbanden gepragt, sie zu beherrschen. Der Beitrag untersucht die organisatorische Evolution der spanischen Kammern seit dem spaten 19. Jahrhundert. Deren institutioneller Wandel verlief seit 2010 turbulent und mundete nach einer ganzlichen Abschaffung der Pflichtmitgliedschaft im Jahr 2014 in ein Modell mit offentlichem Status, verpflichtender Registrierung der Unternehmen und freiwilliger Mitgliedschaft. Die Kammern waren in der Folge mit Personalentlassungen und grundlegenden Umstrukturierungen befasst. Die Pflichtmitgliedschaft wurde …

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