Spanish Politics and Society

1. Spanish Politics and Society Hispanic & European Studies Program Fall 2009 Raimundo Viejo Viñas Office 20.182 www.raimundoviejo.info raimundo.viejo@upf.edu

2. Institutions of Spanish Democracy, 1 Parliamentarism in Spain

3. Parliamentarism in Spain • Political systems can be presidential or parliamentarian • A presidential system is a form of government where an executive branch exists separately from the legislature. • It has fewer ideological parties than parliamentarian systems • A parlamentarian system is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the Parliament

5. Parliamentarism in Spain • Spanish contemporary democracy is a parliamentarian political system. The executive power (i.e. the King and the Government) is not independent from the Parliament. • The King’s constitutional functions are subordinated to the will of the Spanish nation represented in the Parliament • The Government and the Prime Minister depend on the support of the Parliament • Every week there is a special session at the Parliament to control the executive’s activity

6. Parliamentarism in Spain • Democratic regimes can be classified in two different ideal types: majoritarian and “consociative” (Lijphardt) • Majoritarian or “Westminster” democracy is based on a “winner take all” principle • “Consociative” or consensus democracy is animated by a solid spirit of consensus • Spain can be situated in the middle of a majoritarian-consociative continuum. Spain’s democracy is defined as “the less majoritarian of the majoritarian regimes”

7. Parliamentarism in Spain • The distribution of power in the legislature depends on the type of democracy: • Majoritarian democracies tend to a one single chamber Parliament • There are some exceptions, like the British Parliament (the House of Lords is not a powerful chamber) • Consociational democracies tend to a bicameral legislature

8. Parliamentarism in Spain • With a few exceptions, the second chamber of bicameral parliaments is subordinated to the first. • The second chamber usually represents the territorial and/or cultural diversity of a country. • In fact, bicameral parliaments are the most common institutional form of the legislative power in multinational societies.

9. Parliamentarism in Spain • The Spanish parliament (Las Cortes Generales or Las Cortes) is a bicameral one • The first chamber is called Congreso, but it is popularly known as the Parlamento (which is incorrect from a scientific point of view). It has 350 seats. • The second chamber is called Senado. It has 264 seats and it is a very controversial chamber.

10. Parliamentarism in Spain • The major political parties are represented in the Congreso de los Diputados. Elections take place (under ordinary conditions) once every four years • Political parties that obtain more than five seats in elections can form their own parliamentarian group. All other parties form a single parliamentarian group called grupo mixto. • Parliamentary groups: PSOE, PP, CiU, PNV, and ERC/IU/ICV (plus the grupo mixto). • The comisiones parlamentarias organize the specialized work of the members of the Congreso

12. Parliamentarism in Spain • During the dictatorship, Franco awarded some old politicians with a seat in the Senado. • During the transition to democracy, members of the Senado (senadores) become elected representatives. The senadores are voted through open lists (one voter can chose candidates of different political parties) • At the present, the Senado is being reformed in order to better represent the territories (the so-called Comunidades Autónomas)