Sp - Session 10 Transition I

Session 10: Transition I: the Transition to Democracy as national reconciliation ► Politics

in Spain: Processes and Institutions

► IES

Barcelona ► FALL 2007 PROGRAM

► Instructor:

Andrew Davis ► e-mail: [email protected]

1

The Spanish Transition ► Spain

is the paradigmatic case for ‘pacted transition’ just as the Weimar Republic is the paradigmatic case for the study in democratic breakdown.

► Case

where authoritarian government peacefully gave up monopoly on power and became a democracy. 2

The Spanish Transition ► How

did this happen?

► First,

we need to understand how Francoism died.

► Then,

we can investigate the methods by which the transition was affected peacefully. 3

How did Francoism die? ► Through

the sixties and seventies, Spain went through deeper and more rapid social, economic and cultural changes than ever before. Maybe one of the fastest in the Western World… ► Social and economic change both stimulated and was accompanied by a revolution in values. 4

How did Francoism die? ► Remember

Franco’s big gamble… ► It was believed that the benefits of economic growth and the rise of consumerism would help to legitimize the regime and outweigh the risks of the penetration of foreign values of democracy and pluralism.

5

How did Francoism die? ► 1)

There was an increase of the internal imbalances within the Francoist core constituencies. ► (Economic achievements allowed Opus Dei technocrat ministers to gradually occupy other government positions traditionally in hands of Falangist groups and, as a result, the old coalitional equilibrium was broken.)

6

How did Francoism die? ► 2)

Many priests had adopted a critical view on the dictatorship and, finally, the Catholic Church ended up distancing itself from the regime. ► (In 1971 the Church published a document acknowledging its error in taking Franco´s side in the Civil War).

7

How did Francoism die? ► 3)

The economic development lead working-class movements to become more organized. ► (The overall working-class pressure increased from 1.5 million hours lost through strikes in 1966 to 8.7 in 1970 and to 14.5 in 1975).

8

How did Francoism die? ►4)

The survival of the regime after Franco had been connected to Admiral Carrero Blanco ►(who was assumed to play the role of temporary guarantor of continuity. But his assassination by ETA in December 1973 removed this option) 9

How did Francoism die? ►5)

Franco thought that he would leave Spain “tied-up and well tiedup” ►(His will established a regime which would have concentrated all authority in the hands of a single individual – King Juan Carlos). 10

How did Francoism die? ►5)

Surveys showed an increasing support for democracy and indicated that the backing for Francoist institutions was virtually nonexistent.

11

How did Francoism die? ►6)

Many businessmen had concluded that a continuity of the regime would be an impediment to Spanish integration into the European Common Market. The economic elite started to exert some pressure in favour of a stepby-step democratic change.

►

12

How did Francoism die? ► The

reforms that Franco put in place created impossible contradictions, particularly in the European context.

► But,

he died before the underlying forces that objected to his authoritarian regime gained enough strength to move against him. 13

From authoritarian regime to successful EU member In 1975 Spain was under Franco´s authoritarian regime. By the 1990s, Spain had a democratic regime with some characteristics of stability: ► there was a constitutional and politically responsible government ► military coups seemed increasingly unlikely ► several elections had taken place ► the protection of human and political rights was guaranteed ► How was this possible? 14

Spain’s 2 cruxes ► How

to convince those in power to give up power voluntarily to create democracy?

► How

to placate nationalist/regionalist aspirations? 15

Giving up Power ► The

challenge to convince those in power to give it up was great. ► Ideologically, they were opposed to it. Strong authoritarian gov’t was seen as the way Spain ‘should be’ organized ► This was backed up by the military and the Guardia Civil. ► ALL were afraid that a transition would land them in jail, or worse….. 16

Regionalist/Nationalist Pressures ► Nationalism

and regionalism has been a hot issue since the turn of the 20th century. ► This is particularly the case in the Basque Country and in Catalonia. ► Nationalist feelings are reinforced by institutional memory (the statutes of autonomy of the 2nd Republic) and history mixed with mythology (the Catalan Empire and the Basque

17

Regionalist/Nationalist Pressures ► This

cultural repression under Franco created a distinctive process: ► In the peripheries with culturally distinctive elements (ie., language), the strive for democracy melted into expressions of peripheral nationalism. ► Franco had created the twisted situation whereby for many, centralization meant dictatorship. 18

Spain’s stateness problem ► At

its most unstable, territorial issues can so consume intergovernmental relations that the long-term survivability of the state comes into question. ► Stepan and Linz refer to this as a stateness problem (or questions regarding legitimacy and long-term survivability of the central government).

19

The narrative: a brief description of the Transition ► The

first phase: November 1975 to July 1976 (Franco dies November 20 1975). ► Juan Carlos kept the last Francoist Prime Minister –Arias Navarro- in power after Franco dies. ► But Arias was NOT a reformer, and was trying to keep the old systems in place. 20

Phase 1: Pressures from below ► Arias

government tried to impose a ‘limited democracy’ ► (He included some reformist figures in cabinet and enlarged the margins of tolerance of opposition groups. Nevertheless, these measures were not accepted by the opposition forces) ► The opposition forces, as a response, put into practice a strategy of ‘pressure from below’ – what was this pressure? 21

Phase 1: Pressures from below

► This

pressure came in the form of strikes, the number of working hours lost through strikes increased from 14.5 million in 1975 to 150 million in 1976 ► Worried about the consequences of these socio-political movements, King Juan Carlos expressed his discomfort with Arias’ policy before the US Congress. ► The king made making explicit that his goal was to move Spain toward a parliamentary democracy. Soon afterwards, Arias Navarro resigned.

22

23

Phase 2: July 1976-June 1977 ► Juan

Carlos appointed Adolfo Suarez, a non-relevant political figure so far, as Prime Minister ► From the beginning, the Suarez government moved to dismantle the Francoist regime. ► (In the declaration of his first governmental program, Suarez announced that he would work for the establishment of a democratic political

24

25

Suarez’s strategy: negotiating with Francoist core constituencies

•

Suarez obtained the support of the economic elite -guaranteeing them the continuity of the capitalist system.

•

Suarez acquired the backing of the Army and civil servants - the structures of the Army and public administration would remain untouched.

•

Suarez gained the agreement of the representatives who sat in the Francoist Cortes - offers them an electoral system designed to maximize the possibilities of the electoral success of the conservative forces, 26

Suarez’s strategy ► As

a result of these negotiations, a Law of Political Reform which included the holding of general elections was approved by the Francoist Cortes and by the Spanish population through a referendum ► The law was approved by the Francoist parliament and later ratified through a referendum with a turnout of 78 percent and a 94 percent of voters who endorsed it.

27

Suarez’s strategy ► After

the referendum, Suarez organizes the first elections since the 1930s. Those elected would create a new constitution. ► One of the most important was the extension of the legalization of all parties, particularly the Communist PCE. ► Suarez put together a coalition of moderate parties creating the Union of Democratic Centre (UCD).

28

Phase 3: June 1977 - 1982 ► First

democratic elections in Spain 40 years on 15 June 1977 ► Suarez’s UCD win the elections (35 percent of the votes and 47 percent of the seats in Congress) ► The new Congress is asked to write an new constitution, which becomes the Constitution of 1978, later ratified by Spanish citizens through a referendum in 1978. 29

The Consensus Constitution ► In

the end – how do the constitutional framers decide on how to handle the delicate issues of democratizing and decentralizing?

► Was

it really that simple? 30

Democratizing: Reforma Pactada The Transition was an ‘agreed break’ (reforma pactada) in which the mechanisms of selection of the rulers (from authoritarian to free elections) changes… ► … but in which there was a legal continuity through which the change was put into practice ►

31

Democratizing ►Legal

continuity allowed the authoritarians to get off the legal hook, but it prevented them from trying to maintain power, or starting a civil war. ►‘Pacto del olvido’ – What was it? 32

Pacto del olvido ► At

its essence, the pact represented a decision to walk away from Spain’s recent past - without commissions (e.g. South Africa), investigations, or trials of former participants in the regime. ► The unwritten agreement was made possible by mutual accord of the political class (which included ex-Francoists and moderate democrats), as well as the low salience that the idea of commissions held amongst civil society – basically, civil society wanted peace and democracy more than they wanted justice/revenge. 33

Democratizing: the stateness issue I ► Stepan

and Linz maintain that the fact that the first three elections that were held (to approve the political reform law, to elect a constituent assembly and to approve the constitution by referendum) were statewide, contributed to Spain’s stability.

► In

other contexts, such as the breakup of the Soviet Union, regional elections were held first, and this contributed to instability. 34

Democratizing: the stateness issue II Decentralization ►Forms

of state:

► 1)

A federation, is a state comprised of a number of self-governing regions (often themselves referred to as "states") united by a central ("federal") government. ► In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states is constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of the central government. 35

Democratizing: the stateness issue II Decentralization ► Forms

of state ► 2) A unitary state - is sometimes one with only a single, centralised, national tier of government. ► However

unitary states often also include one or more self-governing regions. The difference between a Federation and this kind of unitary state is that in a unitary state the autonomous status of self-governing regions is minimal, and ‘dual sovereignty’ does not exist.

36

Democratizing: the stateness issue II Decentralization ► With

people INSISTING that Spain had to be alternatively centralized or decentralized, Suarez saw the risks. ► Suarez stated: ► ‘The building of a state composed of autonomous regions is our only way out of Spain’s current problems, but it is also the principal risk that threatens our fragile democracy’ 37

So the constitutional framers split the difference: ► The

way the constitution is designed, it acts more as a ‘pre-constitutional’ document, allowing for the creation of autonomous government, but neither delineates autonomous powers, organization, nor territory ► In other words, territorial division of powers between the central government and the regions was negotiated on a region by region basis.

38

Spain as a ‘quasi-federal’ state ► Spain

is thus ‘quasi-federal’ – In theory, the Spanish parliament could revoke the autonomy of Catalonia or the Basque Country (just as the UK gov could do in Wales or Scotland), but it would be a near political impossibility.

39

Democratizing: Consensus ► Constitutional

Adoption Formula

 The fact that the constitution was written by elected officials, in a consensus style, also greatly contributed to the success of the transition.

40

Democratizing: just say NO to the military ► Finally,

the Democracy stood up for its right NOT to have its policy power constrained by non-democratic institutions.

41

23 February 1981

42

El Tejerazo ► 23-F

is the name given to a failed coup d'état in Spain that started on February 23, 1981 and ended the next day on February 24, 1981. ► It is also known as El Tejerazo from the name of its most visible figure, Antonio Tejero, who conducted the most notable event of the coup by storming into the Spanish Congress of Deputies with a group of 200 armed Guardia Civil agents during the process of electing Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo as the new Prime Minister.

43

El Tejerazo ► King

Juan Carlos I gave a nationallytelevised address denouncing the coup and urging the upholding of the law and the democratically-elected government. The coup soon collapsed. After holding the Parliament and cabinet hostage for 18 hours the hostage-takers surrendered the next morning without having harmed anyone. 44

Reasons for the success of Spain’s transition to Democracy ► Memory

of Civil War worked in peace’s favor – political actors did not engage in ‘system blame’. ► Franco regime lasted so long that no ‘restoration’ of Second Republic was possible. ► Monarchy – initially viewed as complicating factor, eventually King proved a major player in the transition. 45

Reasons for Success ► Inclusiveness

– all political parties, including Communists and Batasuna were legalized (this has subsequently changed). ► Constitution created by consensus amongst political parties – 88% of Spanish supported constitution in referendum. ► Economic

liberalization – had brought Spanish values quite close to European neighbors. In other words, people supported the transition to democracy. 46

Reasons for Success ► It

solved the regionalist issue through quasi-federalism

► It

solved the democracy question through a negotiated peace and promises of immunity (pacto del olvido). 47