Consistency in the Role that Citizens Attribute to Municipal Authorities in the Inter-governmental Relations System

Abstract

This research note has three objectives: First, to discover what the attitude of citizens towards towards the subsidiarity principle is; next, to examine whether or not there is a consistent relationship between, on the one hand, the attitude towards the subsidiarity principle and, on the other hand, the opinions and preferences on the question of the distribution of power, functions and resources among the different levels of government; and thirdly, to identify the typical citizen characteristics that show consistent attitudes and opinions. The research focuses on the province of Barcelona and the Community of Madrid. The last section of the paper contains some thoughts about possible avenues to further research on these questions and a short discussion on the implications of our findings.