El proceso constituyente español de 1873: origen y fracaso de la República FederalThe Spanish constituent process of 1873: origin and failure of the Federal Republic

Abstract

Abstract The Spanish constitutional project of 1873 was intended to lay the foundations of the First Spanish Republic, whose proclamation took place in the context of the abdication of King Amadeo I to the throne. In this article I approach the analysis of the constituent process from a double perspective. On the one hand, that of the methodological rule of the possibility principle, which requires the project having a minimum probability of success in order to contribute to the theory of constituent processes. On the other hand, that of theory building process tracing, which allows us to causally reconstruct the failure and identify the intervening factors. I argue that, although the particular seriousness of the political crisis that existed in Spain at the beginning of the constituent process did not necessarily condemn it to failure, as the process progressed, the worsening of these circumstances, together with the novel but also divisive nature of the project, ended up dynamiting the initial consensus.