Why Decentralize Authority Asymmetrically?

While scholars often relate structural explanations to the territorial shift of authority, we argue that the why and when of these reforms can only be explained by an actor-based approach. We argue that the logic of asymmetric reforms follows a simple set-relational logic: The major party in national government opts for an asymmetric reform when a regional party has a significant influence on national elections and challenges the major national government party more severely than its competitors. The second condition is met when a regional party develops a nuanced policy profile which resembles the major government party’s programme more than those of its competitors. We test this hypothesis with a newly compiled dataset of election results and party positions on the regional level.