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Abstract.  For a broad range of policy sectors, liberalization was the predominant goal during the 1990s, and the policy change involved gave rise to a wide range of academic debates. In this article we analyze the consequences of these far‐reaching policies for the policy process itself. We ask whether the policy changes significantly altered the characteristics of policy processes by considering the timing and extent of the changes in policy networks during those years. More concretely, we discuss the extent to which policy networks changed as a result of market opening, considering the case of the telecommunications policy network in Spain. Using data from two successive surveys, we compare the network structure before and after market opening. Our findings show that only slight changes occurred during this period, making the network denser but not more open. Thus, we suggest that a more successful liberalization probably would have required a network that was more open to new entrants and in which power was less centralized and so able to guarantee a competitive environment.

The role of local governments in promoting policies to combat climate change is critical. In order to play this role, local administrations must have different capacities that allow them to analyze, manage and transform their environment through public policies. This article aims to contribute to the academic debate on the role of local governments in the articulation of climate change policies and sustainable development. The proposal combines a conceptual and analytical contribution, which is illustrated by means of a case study analysis. At the conceptual and analytical level, the article proposes a review of the contributions from the perspective of public policies and organizational management models in order to introduce an analytical framework based on four capacities: strategic, analytical, managerial and collaborative. This framework is developed based on the design of a strategy to measure the existence of these capabilities in a given local government by means of specific indicators. This analytical framework is applied through a case study of Barcelona City Council and its policies to combat climate change and promote sustainable development. The results of the analysis highlight the importance of the combined action of the four management capacities mentioned as a precondition for the articulation of this type of policies at the local government level.

We examine the effect of public policy on the growth of Internet use. Using a decentralized country-Spain-as an example, we compare the 17 Spanish regions to test different Internet policy designs, taking into account the quality and number of specific programs promoted by regional governments, as well as the presence or absence of strategic planning in each region. We treat the percentage of Internet users as a dependent variable to compare its diffusion in different territories. Our findings show that educational levels and economic differences explain about half of the variations observed. Furthermore, the regional policies play a significant role in explaining regional variations. We investigate which public policy instruments are more significant for the development of the Internet, and find that focused policy intervention and complex policy initiatives are more significant than other policy instruments in explaining the increase in the percentage of Internet users.

ResumenEl objetivo de este artículo es contribuir al análisis de la autonomía, control y gestión de las agencias públicas en España, a partir de las percepciones de sus responsables sobre su capacidad financiera y operativa, así como sobre sus mecanismos de rendición de cuentas. Para ello, este trabajo se basa en las opiniones de los altos cargos de las agencias, recogidas a través de una encuesta realizada entre julio y noviembre de 2013. La encuesta sigue el modelo de un proyecto colaborativo de carácter internacional (COBRA), que analiza los procesos de agencificación de la Administración pública en distintos países. Los resultados del estudio indican que los responsables de las agencias públicas españolas consideran que disponen de un alto nivel de autonomía en su gestión. También sugieren que las agencias con una percepción de autonomía mayor tienden a desplegar una mayor rendición de cuentas ante el ministerio de referencia. En