Introduction

Historical policy analysis is the core of the activities of politicalhistorians. Let’s remind the reader of some classical and some morerecent references. For a long time, the most influential book was RaymondCarr’s Spain, 1808– 1939 (1966). If we bridgeover half a century of intense scholarship, it is worth quoting Pamela BethRadcliff (2017) with a volume with a very similar title, and the ten volumesof the series edited by Josep Fontana and Ramon Villares, five of which aredevoted to the post-1808 period and four to the long 20th century(2007– 17). As there is already so much writtenusing this approach, and of such a high quality, it would be well beyond ourforces to attempt a brief summary for the 20th century, pre-PoliticalTransition Years. To provide a useful set of interpretative clues, we havefocussed on the development of policy analysis tools – mostly policyevaluation and assessment – looking for the policy actors behindthem. In our search we have included a wide array of actors and tools:individuals writing monographs, lobbies, civic associations, public andprivate institutions, charities, public administrations, parliamentarycommissions, research bureaux, and so on. All of these actors wereconsidered after they provided relevant data or a reason for analysingpolicy.

Spain has a fairly long tradition – although not continuous –of policy evaluation and assessment, starting in the late 18th century, butit has undergone important institutional shifts and setbacks, which reflectmajor political conflicts. At times, when politics became more open, theinfluence of policy evaluation and assessment was very relevant in promotingmajor policy changes, while at other times – the setbacks, when thesword was the source of legitimacy – it almost disappeared. Onseveral occasions, however, what was done in Spain met the internationalstandards of the time. We will survey seven periods in the study of policyevaluation and assessment.

The first period corresponds to the years usually called the end of theAncien Régime and the ‘LiberalRevolution’. The Spanish Empire had been crushed under the weight ofthe French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic invasion. The half-centuryafter Napoleon’s retreat and defeat were years of tension between thenew liberal order and the defenders of the AncienRégime.