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Abstract
Since democratization, Spain has experienced institutional reconfiguration at the regional and municipal levels. This study addresses how the devolution of policy competencies to subnational institutions has influenced relationships between the Spanish state and women's civil society. I examine how subnational women's policy agencies and women's associations relate to one another and possibly cooperate in order to create democratic outcomes for women. I pose my inquiry based on a variety of literatures including women's movement research, literature on women and democratic transitions, and the political process model. By examining how feminisms and political opportunities are embedded within several levels, I am able to explain how multiple levels of institutions and gender contexts influence relationships between states and movements as well as the outcomes of the relationships. Assessing democratic outcomes for women in subnational places is an important way to evaluate whether local institutions provide rich and participatory experiences for all citizens. The investigation combines controlled case comparison with ethnographic methods. The regional cases in the comparison are the Spanish Autonomous Communities of Andalusia and Galicia. I also include a comparison of five Spanish municipalities that are taken from the two regional cases. The municipalities are Vigo, Lalín, Cadiz, Seville, and Carmona. Findings from the case study suggest that subnational institutions provide opportunities for feminists. In a decentralized system, feminists can look for opportunities in a variety of places. Nevertheless, the study shows that not all subnational actors and contexts lend themselves to feminist outcomes. Many small municipalities are home to women's associations that cannot be classified as feminist. However, the data show that these associations are a way to increase women's public participation.
