ABSTRACT

In 2006 the Spanish Congress made the historical decision to publish the salaries of the members of the national parliament (MPs) for the first time in the 30 years of democracy. At least two possible interpretations could explain the introduction of some transparency at this late stage. On the one hand, this transparency measure launched by the president of the Congress fitted the overall strategy of good governance practices launched in 2005 by the Prime Minister, Rodríguez Zapatero, in order to address the declining levels of citizens’ trust in public authorities. On the other hand, publishing MPs’ salaries, considered to be the lowest among parliamentarians of the former EU-15 country members, could pave the way for a substantial reform of the reward system. The last two presidents of the Lower House had tried to raise salaries after changing political color in parliament. This resembles the economics of politics analysis in which the political business cycle helps to explain reward system changes. However, public opinion has frustrated any attempt to raise parliamentarians’ salaries. Instead, incremental pay increases of MPs have been linked to the payment system of civil servants since the early democratic times, and several allowances have allowed for more substantial increases.