Multiple Crises and Policy Dismantling in Spain: Political Strategies and Distributive Implications

This article examines the distributive implications of dismantling strategies applied to public policies in order to confront the multiple crises that have taken place in Spain since 2008. The hypotheses concern the logic of dismantling, while considering different theoretical alternatives. First, it is suspected that the configuration of social groups and business interests affects how dismantling strategies are chosen: the corporatist state selectively protects its closer clientele. Second, the characteristics of policies and instruments are discussed, with the suggestion that there was a preference for dismantling those that were less costly for the politicians. To assess these interpretations, variations across policy sectors in Spain during the period 2008-2012 are analysed and different areas of regulatory and expenditure policies are considered.