National vs Local Government Responsiveness: The Importance of Strategy

This paper addresses the question of government responsiveness in times of crisis and argues that local government is more sensitive than national government to citizen’s demands. It further argues that any policy impact that protests achieve are more a result of strategy than of the severity and prevalence of the grievance. Looking at Spain, it argues that while most protest movements have had relatively insignificant impact on policy, the housing movement can point to several successes. The PAH combine traditional political and legal campaigning with civil disobedience with the aim to secure the right to housing against capital interests. Despite significant popular support, they have had little policy impact on the national level, instead provoking anti-protest legislation. On a lower level, however, many local governments have passed legislation aimed at fining banks for unused properties as well as outlawing evicting households with nowhere else to go.