PARTY FAMILIES AND PARTICIPATORY INSTITUTIONS: EFFECTS IN PARTICIPATORY INTENSITY AND DIVERSITY

Is there a systematic relationship between the ideology of governing parties and the types and number of participatory institutions they establish? If such an association exists, which types of parties does it impact, and for which kinds of participatory institutions can we anticipate its emergence? These questions have received limited systematic attention in prior research. We address them using a dataset containing information about local participation policies implemented in over 400 Spanish municipalities. The results indicate that there are some policy differences, but they are relatively minor. The three main party families exhibit more similarities than differences in the type and quantity of participatory institutions they establish. The existing distinctions point to a slightly more pronounced participation policy when these departments are under the leadership of radical left parties