Spanish Politics: Democracy after DictatorshipISBN: 978-0-7456-3992-5
Hardcover
224 pages
July 2008, Polity
Other Available Formats: Paperback
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In this book, Omar Encarnación shows how a post-transition settlement, anchored on inter-party consensus and collaboration, made possible Spain's smooth transition from authoritarian to democratic rule, a string of stable governments from the Center, Left and Right, a modern and competitive economy, and a new national multi-cultural identity.
Each chapter in the book is devoted to a different aspect of the
post-transition settlement, from its origins in the political
traumas of Spanish history, to its implications for the evolution
of the party system, the state, civil society and the economy, and
finally, the consequences of its deterioration under the socialist
administration of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Controversial policies such as same-sex marriages, negotiations with the Basque terrorist organization ETA, expanded powers to regional governments, and accountability for human rights abuses committed during the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime, explain the widespread claim that Zapatero has shattered the political status quo of the post-Franco era.
This book will be essential reading for students and scholars of contemporary Spanish politics and comparative democratization.