El papel del Parlamento en la mejora de la capacidad administrativa: evolución del control político de la administración y de su participación en el diseño y análisis de políticas públicas.

The literature emphasizes the importance of strengthening the administrative capacity of States to guarantee an efficient use of EU funds. In the context of the Spanish Plan of Recovery, Transformation and Resiliency to distribute Next Generation EU funds, this article explores the role of the Spanish parliament in the improvement of this administrative capacity. We argue that it can contribute in two ways. First, reinforcing the accountability of public administration. Second, promoting the participation of authorities and public officials in the design and analysis of public policies. With the goal to explore how the parliament has developed these functions, the article analyzes the parliamentary control activity on public administrations during the period 1979-2019, based on the study of parliamentary questions introduced in plenary sessions and committees. It also take into account all the parliamentary appearances of public officials and authorities for the period 1986-2019. Results illustrate, on the one hand, that political control on public administrations is very low and, even if it has diversified compared to the eighties, it has significantly decreased over time. On the other hand, the participation of public officials and authorities takes place mainly on economy and budget issues, and through posts of political confidence, more than with a technical profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]