Spanish Parties Research Articles

Challenging business as usual? The rise of new parties in Spain in times of crisis

The two-party system in Spain collapsed in the aftermath of the Great Recession with the appearance of two new parties, Podemos and Ciudadanos. How are we to understand the sudden emergence of these new formations? Using 2015 and 2016 post-electoral survey data to map the ideological space and model voting behaviour, it is shown that economic voting is only part of the story. This article contends that the transformations in the Spanish party system are best understood through the prism of the crisis of representation that unfolded alongside the severe economic crisis. It is dissatisfaction with the political system that drives the vote for both new parties. The results also show that a unidimensional ideological structure and a generational divide cut across these critical attitudes. The young and politically dissatisfied are more likely to vote for new parties, each on different sides of the ideological spectrum.

El Partido Socialista Obrero Español: de la hegemonía a la decadencia

The PSOE has held a relevant position in the Spanish party system since the first democratic elections in 1977: twenty-one years in office together with a continuous presence in government at the regional and local level have credited it as government party. Throughout this period, despite undergoing periodic ideological reassessment and, on several occasions, traumatic restructuring of its leadership, the party always retained its potential as an electoral alternative, even when in opposition. Since 2008, however, there have been numerous indications that the PSOE is facing its most serious crisis: ideological-programmatic confusion; falling membership; difficulties to consolidate its national leadership and rapid electoral decline. More than a century-old, the PSOE is facing an uncertain future with respect to its role within Spanish politics. This has become particularly apparent since 2014, as the party has been confronted by competitors in the centre and on the left, the parties of the so-called new politics. This article examines the factors that have influenced the loss of electoral support in the period from 2008 to 2015, taking into account the incidence of contextual, attitudinal and political leadership elements.

Frame building and frame sponsorship in the 2011 Spanish election: the practices of polarised pluralism

ABSTRACTThis study assesses if the well-established polarised pluralism of the Spanish news media system translated into frame sponsorship during the 2011 Spanish General Election. After reviewing the historical and cultural influences that shaped the 2011 Spanish electoral campaign, I conduct a qualitative discourse analysis of 96 news releases issued by the 2 main Spanish political parties, the Socialist Party and the People’s Party, to identify their sponsored diagnostic and prognostic frames. I then compare the partisan news releases with 27 El País and El Mundo editorials that evaluated the party-sponsored frames to explore if and to what extent both Spanish leading newspapers adopted the party-sponsored frames. Findings show that the political parties succeeded in dominating news narratives about what was at stake in the election, since the newspapers clearly sponsored partisan frames and supported the parties’ political aspirations. Results also demonstrate that the newspapers sporadically challenged details of partisan diagnostic and prognostic frames, especially after the election. These discrepancies, however, do not challenge partisan ideological foundations.

Metaphor as linguistic instrument of manipulation to realize the persuasive strategy in the texts of Spanish political parties programs

Text of any party program is communicative that is it contains information that an author transfers to a recipient. This information can serve as a source of knowledge about phenomena and events as well as to be a source of a strong emotional impact on recipient encouraging him to act certain way. Since the emotional sphere is one of the levers that controls behaviour of any person, it is very important for the authors of the pre-election political programs to make an impact on readers and also make an ideological settingdesired for these authors.To use kilfully the mechanism of persuasiveness is to get electoral support of the electorate. One of such mechanisms used in the texts of the pre-election polititical programs is using of metaphors. Page 79 И. В. Смирнова79The political metaphor is very sensitive to events happening in the country and language of politics. It is one of the most signi cant and common methods of language manipulation that capable of long conserving in memory and making an impact on the recipient’s associative thinking. The use of metaphors in political discourse is mostly applied for manipulation of the electorate and their use is also a powerful persuasion technique.

How does economic crisis impel emerging parties on the road to elections? The case of the Spanish Podemos and Ciudadanos

This article examines the influence of economic crisis on voting preferences for the emerging Spanish parties (Podemos and Ciudadanos). We develop a multinomial model that tests their voting antecedents, and we find three results that may be relevant for the literature on the emergence of parties. First, a negative evaluation of the country’s economic situation has a major impact on votes for the two parties. Second, the perception of corruption also plays a crucial role in understanding support for the two emerging parties. And third, both the evaluation of the country’s economic situation and the perception of corruption interact to account for the emergence of both Podemos and Ciudadanos. We conclude that the emergence of new parties has an economic basis, but political factors – such as corruption – are not suppressed by this. Conversely, the two factors interact in order to finally give rise to the new parties.

Social movements and new forms of political organization : podemos as a hybrid party

In recent years, the restructuring of the party systems in several European countries was accompanied or preceded by massive waves of anti-austerity protests. Although the causal relation between these mobilizations and the rise of new parties has already been assessed, the organizational features remain understudied. To fill this gap, here we analyse the impact of the cycle of anti-austerity and pro-real democracy protests which emerged in 2011 with the birth and organizational development of the Spanish party Podemos. Bridging two subfields of social and political sciences—movement studies and party studies—we pay particular attention to the dichotomy between horizontality and verticality within Podemos' organization. In particular, we address the issues of social movement effects as well as party foundation and organizational development. Our main findings suggest that movement mobilization played a large role in shaping Podemos' foundational choices, particularly with reference to the fundamental principles of the party and its strategic positioning. Podemos is also experimenting new democratic methods internally. Nonetheless, empirical analysis shows that, overall, the influence of movements' organizational models on the organizational structure of the party has been limited. Yet, the result is a “hybrid” party that finds a balance between the horizontalism of social movements and the efficiency of parties.

Hiszpańska partia Podemos a mediatyzacja polityki

The Spanish Party Podemos and the Mediatization of Politics The article focus on the Spanish party Podemos, which has received in recent years a very strong support of the electorate in several elections. The author analyzes the media strategy of the party in the context of the theory of media systemsand the mediatization of politics and the politicization of the media. The aim of the article is to show how Podemos used mass media, especially television, to realize their own political assumptions.

ПАРТИЙНО-ПОЛИТИЧЕСКАЯ СИСТЕМА ИСПАНИИ НА ПЕРЕПУТЬЕ

The Spanish party system experienced a radical transformation over the years of global crisis. Bipartidism has been dominating in political life for about 30 years. Two political parties – center-left Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and the People’s Party (PP) replaced each other in power significantly outrunning all other parties in the extent of influence. The existing practice helped to maintain the societal stability and governability. The trend has changed in the latest years as the cumulative potential of both parties has decreased. The December 2015 parliamentary elections were an electoral “earthquake”. Both parties received 50.7% of the vote, what was one third less than in 2011 (74.3%). A crisis of confidence in political parties is revealed not only through electoral evaluation of their policies. A substantial societal protest potential accumulated in the country and was expressed by two new political parties – Podemos and Ciudadanos – which over a short period of time have noticeably surpassed the PP and PSOE ending the bipartidism. At the same time, the vices of all parties are often reproduced in the performance of the new ones. For example, Podemos claiming the intention to avoid bureaucratism turns into a centralized party resembling the Caudillo-style party traditional for Spain. After December 2015 elections, the balance of forces was such that the formation of a new government was impossible without an agreement between four main parties. Since party leaders prioritized narrow party interests, ambitions and electoral calculations over the national ones, they failed to form the government. The June 2016 extraordinary elections were the result. The minority government of the Popular Party was formed only after the elections. It became possible due to the change of the PSOE stance, which used to be in firm opposition but abstained in a confidence vote to PP leader Mariano Rajoy. PSOE itself faced an acute crisis. The change from the two-party system to a multiparty one leads to a radical change in the format and rhetoric of the Spanish politics. An insufficiently developed culture of dialogue and compromise becomes an imperative for societal governability. All politicians despite their ideological and political orientations have to withstand a serious psychological test, learn to survive in new conditions and agree with each other. The time of political turmoil has come to Spain. Real multiparty system is better adapted to the country’s difficult and dynamic reality. But it increases multiple political risks and makes development prospects less certain and predictable.

‘Follow the closing of the campaign on streaming’: The use of Twitter by Spanish political parties during the 2014 European elections

The results of the elections to the European Parliament of 25 May 2014 marked a before and an after for Spanish politics. This influential European campaign took place at a moment when Internet use was well established as a tool, with political parties and candidates actively using social media. This article aims to research whether Spanish parties are using Twitter to develop interactive communication, or simply for broadcasting messages. Thus, the Twitter activity of various political parties during the 2014 European campaign is content-analysed. Results indicate that activity seems to depend on ideology, that parties are revealed to be committed to unidirectional communication/broadcasting, and that debate on Twitter is fundamentally between the politicians themselves. On a theoretical level, our data are in line with the idea that the normalisation hypothesis tends to prevail.

La Iglesia y la Falange = The Church and the Phalanx

During the Spanish civil war, the relations between the Church and the Phalanx were not exempt from conflicts, as consequence of the influence National Socialist in the fascist Spanish party, as well as the attempts of the only party for controlling plots of the power of the Church.

The Breakdown of the Spanish Two-Party System: The Upsurge of Podemos and Ciudadanos in the 2015 General Election

The 2015 general election marked the end of the two-party system that had existed in Spain since the restoration of democracy. Two new parties, ‘Podemos’ and ‘Ciudadanos’, entered the national arena for the first time and together obtained 34.6 per cent of the vote. This paper describes this election’s context and electoral results by analysing the individual determinants behind the change to the Spanish party system. The results indicate that economic factors predominantly explain the votes for the traditional parties, the PP and PSOE. On the other hand, political factors help distinguish why some voters remained ‘loyal’ to the traditional parties and others switched to the new formations. While Podemos switchers were mainly politically disaffected left-wing voters, electoral support for Ciudadanos came from younger and ideologically moderate voters who had lower levels of political trust.

ВЫИГРАЛИ ВЫБОРЫ - ПРОИГРАЛИ ВЛАСТЬ СЮРПРИЗЫ “ИСПАНСКОЙ ПАРТИИ”

ВЫИГРАЛИ ВЫБОРЫ - ПРОИГРАЛИ ВЛАСТЬ СЮРПРИЗЫ “ИСПАНСКОЙ ПАРТИИ”

Crisis, changes and uncertainty: Spanish party system after the Great Recession

Abstract This article provides a descriptive account of changes to the Spanish party system against the backdrop of both the recession, the string of high-profile corruption cases and tensions around an increase in pro-independence sentiment in Catalonia, with all these circumstances contributing to an upturn in political discontent and protest. Changes to the party system came gradually. First came the economic and political situation leading to defeat of the socialist party (PSOE – Partido Socialista Obrero Español) in the 2011 general election and then the erosion of dominance of Spain’s two main parties in the elections held in 2014 and 2015. Finally, the results from the general election of 20 December 2015 seemed to open a new electoral era for the Spanish party system, one characterized by greater fragmentation and polarization, the arrival of new political forces and the need for coalitions to form governments.

STORM THE HEAVENS OR SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE OF THE NEW SPANISH PARTY PODEMOS

The report analyzes the features of political discourse, rhetorical techniques and marketing methods of the Spanish party Podemos , which in a short period of existence in the political arena of the country - little more than a year and a half after the official proclamation - has managed to achieve significant progress in the electoral field. Aims to win power, the party’s ideology appeal to the Spanish citizens , using simple , accessible and emotionally meaningful slogans , building on the achievements of cognitive psychology and linguistics. Attaches great importance to the effects on the public consciousness with the help of words and metaphors.

Allocating Campaign Effort in Spain: Evidence from Four General Elections

This paper analyses which districts are targeted by Spanish political parties in their electoral campaigns. We find that the major Spanish parties - PP and PSOE - mobilise districts where they are more likely to win a new seat or are in danger of losing one they already hold. The predicted closeness of the district race is more relevant in the smallest districts. We also find that Spanish parties mobilise their strongholds. We suggest that, apart from the pure office-seeking strategies, political finance motivations might also play a role in the mobilisation choices made by Spanish party elites.

Podemos and Ciudadanos Shake up the Spanish Party System: The 2015 Local and Regional Elections

With a very high unemployment rate but at the first stage of a timid economic recovery, Spain held regional and local elections in May 2015. The election results showed the fall of traditional parties and the emergence of new forces and citizens’ platforms, which increased the fragmentation of the party system. The PP (Partido Popular – Popular Party) continued to be the most voted-for party but post-election agreements brought the left to power in eight of the 14 regions that held elections, ending four years of conservative general dominance. After commenting on the context, the campaign and the results of the elections, this article explores the main characteristics of the new party competition and examines the profile of those voting for new political alternatives.

¿A quién le importa Europa? La UE en las elecciones generales españolas de 2011

Este artículo versa sobre el papel de la Unión Europea (UE) en las elecciones generales en España. Emplea los siguientes materiales: la base de datos del Manifesto Project, los programas de los partidos que obtuvieron representación en los comicios de 2011, así como, también para 2011, la transcripción del único debate televisado y las cuentas en la red social twitter de los candidatos a la Presidencia del Gobierno del Partido Popular y del Partido Socialista. La metodología empleada es el análisis de contenido. Los datos confirman las expectativas derivadas de la teoría de la importancia (saliency theory). Los partidos españoles han desenfatizado los asuntos de la UE, incluso en 2011, cuando medidas impulsadas por el gobierno anterior, incluida una reforma constitucional, fruto de decisiones adoptadas a escala europea, motivaron la convocatoria anticipada de elecciones. La evolución del énfasis y posición sobre la UE de los partidos españoles contrasta con los cambios observados en estas variables en otros Estados miembros como Francia o Italia. Los hallazgos de esta investigación tienen implicaciones desde el punto de vista de la legitimidad democrática de la UE en España.

The Birth of a New Party: <i>Podemos</i>, a Hurricane in the Spanish Crisis of Trust

A significant number of European electors are turning their backs on traditional main-stream parties. European party systems are being challenged by an increasing number of (new) radical parties, which defied the Christian-social democrat alternation that has dominated Western European countries for decades. In Spain, a political earthquake started after the 2014 European Parliament election. In the context of the worst global economic crisis in the last 80 years (which in Spain is also a social, political and institutional crisis), a party called Podemos won 7.9% of votes and five MEPs, significantly altering the traditional balance of the Spanish party system. This paper studies the causes of the support received by Podemos on 2014 EP elections, dissects its political strategy and analyses the characteristics of the electorate that made possible the birth of this new party. The analysis, which is illustrated using micro-data of twelve surveys, discloses Podemos political agenda.

Identifying with the Nation: Spain's Left-Wing Citizens in an Age of Crisis

This study analyses the extent, sense, and strategies employed by sympathisers with Spanish state-wide left-wing parties to ‘reconstruct’ their affective ties with the Spanish nation after the ‘monopolisation of patriotism’ by Franco's regime. Such an undertaking is further complicated within the context of economic crisis and intensified peripheral nationalism found in Catalonia and the Basque Country. This article applies qualitative analysis to the discourse of left-wing participants from 11 focus groups held in March 2012 amidst the economic (and political) crisis. As expected, this context of crisis favoured the emergence of explicit discourse on the Spanish nation, providing an opportunity to gain a better understanding of its nature. Findings show that welfare nationalism and social patriotism define the kind of attachment developed by the interviewees towards Spain better than the concept of constitutional patriotism, or any kind of ethnic-cultural feeling of belonging.

Territorial cleavage or institutional break-up? Party integration and ideological cohesiveness among Spanish elites

The literature that explores the relationship between decentralisation and the structure of the party system has barely explored an important dimension of party integration, namely the degree of ideological cohesiveness among parliamentary elites. This paper purports to fill the literature gap by analysing heterogeneity in attitudes towards devolution among representatives from Spanish state-wide parties (the People’s Party (PP) and the Socialist Party (PSOE)). Drawing from a sample of 460 parliamentary elites, results show that within-party variation in preferences towards regional self-rule are accounted by the territorial cleavage (historical regions vs ordinary ones) as well as by an institutional cleavage, defined by the type of assembly – regional or national – in which representatives are elected. However, parties’ political and organisational trajectories moderate the impact of those cleavages: territory prevails in accounting for internal variation within the PSOE, whereas the institutional cleavage is more important to explain internal cohesiveness among PP’s party elites.