Spanish Politics and Society The Institutions of Spanish Democracy: the central government, the executive and the Monarchy. Anthony Gilliland Office

Contents The 1978 constitution the Crown the President of the Government the cabinet and the government The presidentialization of prime ministerial power

Note on terminology  Monarchy and Crown  Prime Minister, President of the Government or President  Cabinet and Council of Ministers  Parliament and Cortes Generales or Cortes  Senate and Congress  Members of Congress and Deputies

The Executive as set out by the constitution...

The Crown  The king as Head of State  Functions of the king are set out in article 62:  a) To sanction and promulgate the laws.  b) To summon and dissolve the Cortes Generales and to call for elections under the terms provided for in the Constitution.  c) To call for a referendum in the cases provided for in the Constitution.  d) To propose a candidate for President of the Government and, as the case may be, appoint him or her or remove him or her from office, as provided in the Constitution.  e) To appoint and dismiss members of the Government on the President of the Government’s  proposal.  f) To issue the decrees approved in the Council of Ministers, to confer civil and military positions and award honours and distinctions in conformity with the law.  g) To be informed of the affairs of State and, for this purpose, to preside over the meetings of the Council of Ministers whenever he sees fit, at the President of the Government’s request.  h) To exercise supreme command of the Armed Forces.  i) To exercise the right of clemency in accordance with the law, which may not authorize general pardons.  j) To exercise the High Patronage of the Royal Academies.

 In addition the King must give his assent to international treaties Declare war and peace (following authorisation from the Cortes Generales)  BUT All the Crown Acts are countersigned by the President of the Government or competent minister and it is these that are liable for them.  Conclusion: today the Crown is a largely ceremonial role, with little or no power.

The President of the Government Section 99: “After each renewal of the Congress and in the other cases provided for under the Constitution, the King shall, after consultation with the representatives appointed by the political groups with parliamentary representation, and through the Speaker of the Congress, nominate a candidate for the Presidency of the Government.”  The candidate must submit his or her political programme for Government to the Congress and seek its confidence. Confidence is gained by an absolute majority on a first vote or a simple majority in a second vote.

The President of the Government The constitution, in articles 98 to 100 sets out the role of the President to coordinate and direct the government, name and sack ministers as well as dissolving parliament (albeit through the King). Conclusion: the President of the Government is a powerful position vis a vis the rest of the government, the legislative and the Crown.

The Cabinet and the Government  Appointment of Government: members of government apart from the President are appointed and dismissed by the King at the President’s proposal.  Structure of government: Political:  Council of Ministers  Secretaries of State Administrative:  Sub secretary  General Secretary

The Cabinet and the Government  Relationship between executive and legislative: The government is accountable to the legislative chambers. Congress can only censure the government if a motion to such and effect is proposed by at least one tenth of the Members of Congress, it includes an alternative candidate to the presidency and is passed by an overall majority. Dissolution of the Cortes is proclaimed by the King, but it is the President of the Government sole responsibility to propose it (having deliberated with the Council of Ministers).

The executive in practice: presidentialism and parlamentarism

 If we focus on three different aspects, we could suggest that although it is a parliamentary system, the executive is strong and similar to a presidential system. Formal constitutional framework The internal dynamics of Spanish political parties Dynamics of electoral system

The institutional context: Transition and the constitution (i)  Transition as pacted transition influenced by historical legacy (failure of democratic regime of 2 nd Republic). avoided a clear break with the Franco regime. Result of consensus and negotiation is a weakened parliament despite a PSOE and PCE original position due to Suárez, the Alianza Popular and fears of military and hardliners.

The institutional context: Transition and the constitution (ii)  The constitution Explicit objective to ensure executive dominance over parliament and President of the Government dominance within executive. The President is personally invested with the confidence of parliament and only then does he choose the cabinet. The position of the President is strengthened by the constructive vote of censure. The government has dominant role in initiating legislation, wide powers to issue decree-laws and a superior material means for drawing up legislation.

The institutional context: The electoral law  The electoral law also enhances possibility of presidentialism. PR but designed to make outcome as majoritarian as possible to ensure  Limit to fragmentation of party system  Strong governments.  The effect is one party government  UCD (1977 to 1982)  PSOE (1982 to 1996)  PP (1996 to 2004)  PSOE ( )

Political Parties and their leaders  Political party organisation also contributes. Despite a formal decentralised party organisation, parties are highly centralised and personalised, centred on the leader. (PSOE, PP and even IU). “Parties are hierarchical and top-down organisations with strong oligarchic tendencies, concentrating power at the highest echelons of the party in the hands of a small elite” (Gillespie 1989). The concentration of power in the party leadership can enhance or hamper presidential style of leader:  PP (Partido Popular)  PSOE (Socialist Party)

Political Parties and their leaders  The role of political parties in Executive vs Legislative strength Subservience of parliamentary group in legislative to party central office. Executive strength  The president as majority party leader  The president and his powers over cabinet  Empirical examples: Adolfo Suarez, Felipe Gonzalez and Jose Maria Aznar  Conclusion: The president has high concentration of authority and autonomy.

Electoral dynamics: personalised campaigns  From transition time, due to the weakness of political party organisation, they are personalised and based on party leadership.  Adolfo Suárez himself and reaction of opposition parties.  The role of the media and campaigning

Conclusions  The degree of presidential strength varies. Due to: Institutional arrangements Features of political party competition  These factors do not move neatly in any clear direction over time. Therefore it is a parliamentary system with some features of presidentialism (Aragon 2002).