Published in: N. McEwen y L. Moreno (eds.), The Territorial Politics of Welfare, pp. 1-40, Oxon/Nueva York: Routledge, 2005
The territorial dimension of politics has attracted growing academic interest in
recent years. Yet, many of its epistemological assumptions and methodological tools are still subject to no little mystification. Theories and analyses related to concepts such as decentralization, ethnicity, federalism, multiculturalism or nationalism have frequently been limited to the discussion of the efficiency or inefficiency of public institutions in the provision of policies and services. Such partial treatment has minimized the comprehensive study of: (a) the development of modern states (state formation, nation-building, mass democratization); (b) the intergovernmental relations within the boundaries of the polity; (c) the crisis in the legitimacy of the political institutions of the nation-state; and (d) the impact of globalization in ‘post-industrial’ societies.
Peer reviewed