Influence of the 2008 economic crisis on the functioning of the political system of contemporary Spain

December 20, 2015 marks the end of an important stage in the history of contemporary Spain. That day, elections were held to the Cortes Generales, the result of which ultimately confirmed the final disintegration of the prevailing order of power on the central political scene. The winning of a powerful position in the Congress of Deputies by two new state-wide parties - the Ciudadanos and Podemos - not only signified a transformation of the system, in which two political parties had previously dominated, into a multi-party model, but also resulted in the inability to form a central government. On 3 May 2016, for the first time since the establishment of a democratic political system after the death of General Francisco Franco, the Spanish government was dissolved and new elections were to be held, not by order of the prime minister, but by a decree of the monarch. Furthermore, the political stalemate that had already been predicted by the polls, as well as the significant increase of the separatist The events outlined above, which will be discussed more broadly further on, urge us to pose a research question on how the 2008 economic crisis has affected the functioning of the political system in contemporary Spain. Analysis of the political events taking place in the state makes us believe that it was this very factor that had the biggest impact on the course of a series of changes that took place therein. [fragm. tekstu

The Results of Elections for the Śląskie Voivodeship Assembly in 2018 in the Reality of Territorial Heteronomy

The main aim of the paper is the theoretical analysis of the concept of the territorial heteronomy. Conclusions concerning the idea of territorial autonomy, regionalism or federalism easily can be found in the scientific literature. But they are useless to investigate and explain many political processes and political preferences in states of the Central and Eastern Europe. It is because states of this part of the continent did not have a chance to create and develop their own models of classic administration institutions in the nineteenth century, inter alia the local and regional government. Their only experience in this area is limited to the interwar period between 1918 and 1939. They have gained a new chance for a democratic division of public tasks after the collapse of the communist system in the very end of the twentieth century. But in that period they have focused more on the horizontal division of powers than on the vertical one. For that reason up till today political phenomena in the political centre have more importance than the regional policy impact attempts. The inspiration for such a research were electoral results obtained by two regional parties at elections to the Śląskie Voivodeship Assembly in 2018

Spain's Party System at Times of the Economical Crisis after 2008

In reality o f representative democracy, the economic situation of the state is one of the most important factors determining the stability and durability of a political system. In 2008 an intense economic crisis affected whole Europe. One of consequences of this situation were serious changes in composition and functioning of political systems and its subsystems in almost all countries belonging to the region. This phenomenon has also occurred in contemporary Spain. The main aim o f this paper will be to show how the Spanish party system has changed after the outbreak o f the economic crisis of 2008

Verification of research assumptions

An economic crisis also sparks a desire to introduce changes in the functioning of public administration institutions. Such actions were taken by the central authorities of Greece and Italy. Whenever it is necessary to carry out tasks in order to fulfil public expectations but resources are limited, the state begins to seek ways to financially optimise the execution of these tasks. Dissolution of the intermediate levels of public administration or decreasing the number of local government entities are examples of actions that significantly change the functioning of the entire party system. Another phenomenon, which may occur in a crisis and is closely related to decentralisation, is the strengthening of decentralising tendencies in regions that possess their own distinctive features. Taking advantage of regional political elites to deepen the socio-political divide between the centre and the peripheries may lead to serious changes in the functioning of the entire political system: from changes in the territorial organisation of the state, to attempts to disintegrate it altogether. A serious economic crisis may also lead to a public debate on the necessity to change the constitution. In turn, any amendment of the constitution leads to a radical change in the functioning of a state’s political system. [fragm. tekstu

Corruption in Spain and Catalonia after 2008

e authors decided to deal with the theme of the influence of corruption on the political processes in contemporary Spain and Catalonia. e investigation of this problem requires the reference to both: a political situation in entire state and in the peripheral region, included in the territorial range of Spain. erefore, the main objective of the article is the attempt to answer three questions: 1) What is the corruptive phenomenon based on and why a public sphere is endangered with it to such a degree?, 2) How did the Spanish citizens react to corruptive processes a er 2008?, 3) Did Catalonia, whose politicians regard this region as definitely separate from Spain, differ considerably from a political centre and other regions of the country within intensity of the occurrence of corruptive phenomena a er 2008

Research and methodological assumptions

The interdependencies between the economy and politics or, in other words, the influence of the economic environment on the political system, plays a key role in democratic states, where the influence of particular social groups (groups of interest) on the political decisions taken is, at least in theory, the greatest. In this particular dimension, democracy presents itself as a system, which contributes to a large degree to “politicisation” of decisions that appear to be clearly economic and “technical.” Subjects that wield power in a democratic political system make economic decisions based on their potential for improving their chances of re-election. Subjects that aspire to take over power, in turn, criticise these decisions and try to convince as broad an electoral base as possible that the decisions taken once they are in power, will better cater to their interests. Apart from interests, ideas (ideologies) and values represented by various social groups, another factor that “binds” politics with the economy, are the institutions that function within a political system. Every political and economic activity is regulated by specific public institutions that define the legal framework of the activity, formulate objectives, methods, and instruments needed to perform the activity, act to achieve its objectives, monitor its realisation and control the conformance of the activity with legal regulations. [fragm. tekstu

Ślonsko godka - przaśny folklor czy język regionalny?

In two national censuses, made in the years 2002 and 2011, Silesians emerged as the largest minority occurring in the territory of the Polish Republic. Those researches show also that Silesians are the largest group that use its own ethnolect in domestic relations. In 2002, belonging to that minority declared 173 153 persons, and the use of Silesian ethnolect in domestic relations: 56 643 people. In 2011, the membership of this group declared more than 800 000 people, and the use of regional language more than 500 000. The problem lies in the fact that the Polish state does not recognize the existence of this minority in legal terms. This in turn results in increase of tensions between the center and periphery. Therefore the main purpose of this paper is to show efforts of the Silesian minority for a legal empowerment of the group, in particular, shows most advanced activities for the statutory recognition of the Silesian ethnolect as a regional language

Pozycja partii regionalnych w systemie politycznym współczesnej Hiszpanii

The vast literature on European political parties is dominated by works focused on analyzing activities of the highest branches of state governments. Yet, it is difficult to be surprised by this state of affairs — in Europe, central authorities remain as the main political decision-makers, both in terms of internal affairs and foreign policies. However, it does not change the fact that political parties active in and submitting electoral candidates throughout any given country are not the only entities influencing the quality of political decisions made. It is particularly the case in federation countries and the so-called regional states, where regional parties, as well as their particular variety — ethno-regional parties — gain increasing political significance. The intensification of research on the position of regional parties in political systems of individual European states, especially on the subject of their presence in representative organs on four levels — European, state, regional, and local — is definitely justified. The first argument in favor of such research is the fact that in contemporary Europe, these groupings play a major role in establishing regional imagined communities. As a consequence, scientists must attempt to redefine the existing relations between the core and the periphery. The second argument is the fact that in Western European countries, the relevance level of regional parties is rather high, which indicates that the field of operations for such parties is still widening. Thirdly, regional parties are indeed a political occurrence characteristic for “old Europe” states, but they can also be found in Central and Eastern European countries. It means that conducting research on Western European regional parties conducted in Poland can be particularly significant. Poland is a rather unitary state and a change in the constitutional order, adopted in 1997, which establishes such a form of regime, is rather unlikely. It does not mean however, that the influence of Western European standards will not have an impact on political events in Poland and the shaping of the local political scene. An indepth analysis of solutions adopted in individual Western European states in terms of the capacity for representational participation of regional collectives in electoral representative organs on European, national, regional, and local levels can allow for drawing appropriate conclusions and a substantive evaluation of chances of and threats to democracy, which result from including political representatives of regional collective into lawmaking and — in a wider context — the workings of the political system. Fourthly, an analysis of the functioning of regional parties in the framework of European political systems can significantly contribute to the understanding of some factors conditioning the so-called “unfreezing process” of political systems. Finally, it should be noted that despite the existence of several classifications of political parties, the authors researching the matter today usually propose the adoption of a division into party “families”, since the main “rivalry poles” are similar in most European states. The assumption of divisions based on doctrinal stereotypes is the reason many authors question the purposefulness of including regional and ethnic parties in classifications, which indicate the existence of ideological “families”. It does not, however, change the fact that they comment on the matter of the existence of such groupings in their works, which is why we can assume that this is a consequential research issue. Contemporary Spain is undoubtedly one of the most interesting examples of a European state, where the political rivalry between the core and the periphery indicates the existence of a substantial sociopolitical division in this aspect. It is clear that any attempt to describe the functioning of its party system based solely on a classification formed using traditional doctrinal stereotypes must lead to an incomplete, heavily distorted image. The political processes in this country during the last 150 years show that the socio-political division between the core and the periphery is not any less vital in Spain than the divisions based on the attitudes towards economic and ideological issues. It is clear there that at the turn of the second decade of the 21st century, in the midst of a serious economic crisis, the disappointment in elite politics on the political core level resulted in the rise of popularity of regional parties. It should be noted here that the research on Spanish parties from this party “family” must be coupled with devoting particular attention to a subtype of groupings, which advocate ethnic values. This is due to the specificity of periphery regions, differing from other state areas in language, customs or tradition of political institutions, but also in using these differences in political play by ethno-regional parties. From the perspective of a highly centralized state such as Poland, it definitely merits to examine the case of Spain. The first argument in favor of researching this field is the fact that despite granting autonomic rights to all regions of Spain, the state still retains the form of a unitary state. This work is therefore an analysis of occurrences within the context of a similar form of state, as opposed to those happening in a federation — a form foreign to Polish tradition. Secondly, adding to Polish literature and therefore widening the knowledge of regional parties in Spain may be useful in future in the context of gradual maturing of Polish democracy on local and regional levels. The state decentralization, which occurred in Poland after 1989 was probably one of the most difficult political processes carried out in the country. It is suffice to note that in 1990, at the dawn of the Polish Third Republic, only one level of self-government — the municipal government — was established. Further solutions in the local government reform area were not implemented until 1998, when the government of Jerzy Buzek decided to create county and province levels. However, those solutions are becoming a frequent subject of political and scientific discussion. These discussions often include the notion that the local government reform is a process, which has not been finalized in Poland yet. It is worth noting here that the requests related to directions of changes in the field of Polish decentralization often come from local and regional entities. It can be therefore presumed that the process of development of sub-state political elites will result in subsequent requests in the future. This can further exacerbate the sociopolitical core-periphery division. Consequently, the main goal of this work is to verify the research hypothesis, which assumes that the significant sociopolitical core-periphery divisions in Spain must have prompted the political elites of the central level - which were active after the demise of general Franco and guided the democratic transformation process, setting the state’s territorial integrity as a main goal — to employ solutions for the creation, activity and financing of political parties, as well as for electoral laws, which would allow for communities from individual historical regions to maintain a representation in representative organs on four levels — European, state, regional, and local — therefore ensuring their significant position in the political system of contemporary Spain

Cechy hiszpańskiego systemu rządów

The Spanish political regime can be defined as a system of parliamentary government. The most characteristic features of it are: the dualism of executive, the neutral position of the head of state and the political responsibility of the government before the parliament. Besides, accepted legal solutions allow for the high effectiveness of the governmental action. The specification of the Spanish political stage, formed after 1978, allow to get closer to the model of the parliamentary government (in the case of existence of the majority government) or to the model of parliamentary committee (in the case of the minority government). Thus, the main aim of this article is to present some key features of the Spanish political regime

About the necessity of scientific research concerning regional and ethnoregional parties in Central and Eastern Europe

The history of states situated in Central and Eastern Europe in nineteenth and twentieth centuries differs significantly from the history of contemporary than western democracies. In nineteenth century, when the majority of states in Western Europe have shaped their own models of horizontal and vertical division of powers, states in Central and Eastern part of the continent have fought for their political position in the context of larger, complex states or didn`t exist at the map of the world at all. The short period of peace between the First and the Second World War has allowed for some experiments with democratic institutions and procedures, but there was no time for their consolidation. After the Second World War that part of Europe has fallen under the influence of the Soviet Union, losing the chance to implement political solutions known by the Western Europeans for more than 150 years. The democratic transition, started symbolically in 1989, has allowed to undertake new efforts to establish democratic orders in states of Central and Eastern Europe. However, the horizontal division of powers was far more important than the reflection on necessity of vertical organization of the public authority. Mentioned problems have decisively caused difficulties in defining relations between political centres and peripheries in states of the Central and Eastern Europe. But it does not mean that politically significant processes in these states are taking place only in political centres and their only actors are state-wide-parties. For that reason the main aim of this paper will be to justify the necessity of scientific research concerning regional and ethnoregional parties as well as proto-parties in Central and Eastern Europe