title: Explaining Party Positions on Decentralization.
abstract: Debates about decentralization raise cultural questions ofidentityand economic questions ofredistributionandefficiency. Therefore the preferences of statewide parties regarding decentralization are related to their positions on the economic and cultural ideological dimensions. A statistical analysis using data from thirty-one countries confirms this: parties on the economic right are more supportive of decentralization than parties on the economic left, while culturally liberal parties favour decentralization more than culturally conservative parties. However, country context - specifically the degree of regional self-rule, the extent of regional economic disparity and the ideology of regionalist parties - determines whether and how decentralization is linked to the two dimensions. These findings have implications for our understanding of the politics of decentralization by showing how ideology, rooted in a specific country context, shapes the 'mindset' of agents responsible for determining the territorial distribution of power.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Toubeau
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner