A new political elite in Western Europe? The political careers of regional prime ministers in newly decentralised countries

• DOI: 10.1057/fp.2009.40
• Publication Date: 2010-03-30T07:05:18Z
• Authors: Joan Botella; Juan Rodríguez Te...; Oscar Barberà; Astrid Barrio
• Keywords: 05 social sciences; 8. Economic growth; 16. Peace & justice; 0506 political science

This article aims to observe the effects of decentralisation on the political careers of the regional elite in Spain, France and the United Kingdom. We address the main career pathways of these elites, and we test whether the type of decentralisation and the duration of decentralisation make a difference to their careers. The results show different career pathways, and outline the eventual emergence of a new cursus honorum in which local and national career paths are dissociating. Institutional structure and time make a difference. In France, regional presidents tend to follow a traditional career path, whereas in Spain we find new territorial careers. The consolidation of regional institutions seems to favour the differentiation of political careers.