Judicial review and territorial conflicts
Evidence from Spain
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11891736 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joan-Josep Vallbé (0000-0001-8327-7774, Universitat de Barcelona, corresponding author), Daniel Cetrà (0000-0002-2867-5339, Universitat de Barcelona), Marc Sanjaume‐calvet (0000-0001-8723-1618, Universitat Pompeu Fabra) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-32 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Political Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0304-4130 • E-ISSN: 1475-6765 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1475676525100455 |
| OpenAlex | W4417423562 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
Constitutional courts (CCs) in federal and quasi-federal systems are often expected to act as neutral arbiters in conflicts between levels of government. This article challenges that assumption by analysing the behavior of Spain’s Constitutional Court over four decades of constitutional litigation. Drawing on an original dataset of 1,888 rulings on all challenges to national and regional legislation (1981–2023), we examine how judicial outcomes are shaped by political alignment, institutional design, and court ideology. Our analysis reveals a consistent pattern of deference to the central government, especially when the Court is ideologically conservative or aligned with the federal executive. These results support a strategic model of judicial behavior and raise broader questions about the role of CCs in multilevel systems. Rather than acting as counter-majoritarian forces, courts may reinforce central dominance in center–periphery conflicts, limiting their capacity to protect territorial pluralism in practice
Constitutional review · Deference · Dominance (genetics · Ideology · Judicial review · Legislation · Pluralism (philosophy · Politics · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Policy Transfer and Learning · Political Systems and Governance
Ideology and Career Judges
Courts
The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited
Party Competition between Unequals
A positive theory of statutory interpretation
The Independent Judiciary in an Interest-Group Perspective
No War of Courts in the protection of fundamental rights
Loyalty to the party or loyalty to the party leader
Negative Shocks and Political Parties’ Territorial Demands
A game of tug-of-war
Policing the federation
Between justice and politics
Is the Spanish Constitutional Court an instrument of the central government against the Autonomous Communities
Why Stay Together? State Nationalism and Justifications for State Unity in Spain and the UK
The Italian Constitutional Court and recentralization along the pendulum of regionalism
Comparative Analysis of Federal High Courts
Federalism Disputes and the Behavior of Courts
A Model of the Endogenous Development of Judicial Institutions in Federal and International Systems
Not just about the ruling
Party Competition and Preferences for Inter-regional Redistribution in Spain
Shared or Self-rule? Regional Legislative Initiatives in Multi-level Spain, 1979-2021
How Courts Decide Federalism Disputes
Rethinking the Political Economy of Decentralization
Toward a Strategic Revolution in Judicial Politics
Choosing between the government and the regions
Party competition over decentralisation
Introduction
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |