COOPERATION AGREEMENTS ON EDUCATION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF CATALONIA AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: MORPHOLOGY AND CONTENT (1999-2010)

The article studies 12 years of intergovernmental relations between the Department of Education and local Catalan governments, through the study of the 6082 agreements signed between administrative authorities on both levels from 1999 through 2010. The principal objective of the article is to show how the major educational policies have been deployed locally, and what application they may have once the LRSAL (Streamlining and Sustainability for Local Government Act) is passed. To this end, the starting point for the article is the study of the intergovernmental cooperation agreements as extremely ductile instruments used mainly to delegate powers, finance their development, and create municipal public services. This article analyzes both the breadth and the nature of the cooperative relations between local Catalan governments and the Government of Catalonia on educational matters, thereby attesting to the importance of agreements (convenios) as instruments to remedy situations not contemplated in earlier political agreements. The institutional design of the convenios (agreements) is the starting point for an empirical analysis illustrating the legal-political nature of the relations established on education issues and the effects they produce in local governments.