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This paper analyses the validity of the second-order model in the 2019 municipal elections. We focus, first, on the theoretical evolution that has transformed the model proposed by Reif and Schmitt (1980). Second, it evaluates the explanatory capacity of a model that does not fit with highly fragmented and heterogeneous units of analysis. Finally, a contextual analysis is presented to provide a more robust explanation of the 2019 Spanish municipal election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years the debate on territorial organization of political power in Spain has become particularly intense. The failure of the political process of reform of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia and the current debate over the right to decide, or the problems associated with the Basque context, raise many questions about the future. This paper attempts to relate some concepts of contemporary political theory with that scenario, focusing on issues such as constitutional recognition of the right of secession or proposals for multinational federalism. To do this, we review different theoretical approaches to the phenomenon of multinationality and present some considerations on the possible reform and/or reinterpretation of Spanish law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When do terrorist campaigns end? Why do terrorist groups decline? What are the causes of terrorist disbandment? What are the explanatory factors that account for individual and collective disengagement? This paper analyzes the case of Terra Lliure, a Catalan terrorist group active between 1979 and 1995, in order to identify the independent variables that determine the success or failure of terrorist groups. In accordance to the literature on political violence, the paper develops a multi-level argument that distinguishes three explanatory variables: (1) counter-terrorism; (2) organizational dynamics; and (3) individual factors. The article concludes that a counter-terrorist policy (macro level) based on increasing the cost of participation in an insurgent group is most successful when it coincides with organizational fragmentation (meso level) and individual burnout (micro level). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common argument for the public funding of parties is that it avoids parties' dependence on interest groups to pay for their routine and campaign expenses. This paper examines the relationship between the public financing of parties and rent seeking activities, setting it in the context of the party funding reforms passed by the Spanish parliament in 2007 and 2012. Since the enacted reforms did not constraint the power of officeholders to create and distribute political rents, we should not expect a decline in the resources that the private sector commits to capture those rents. However, due to the new subsidies created by the reform laws to pay for the running expenses of parties, a greater share of the illegal funds originating in the political rent creation process may be transferred from parties' coffers to the politicians who take the decisions that generate those rents. The thesis of this paper is that public subsidies to parties have curbed neither their illegal financing nor political corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variance in electoral magnitude and in district malapportionment is relevant to understand the political consequences of the spanish electoral system. This paper proposes a threefold classification of districts into subsystems and validates it by its diverging results in fractionalization and proportionality. The inequality of electoral magnitudes places a special overrepresentation bonus on certain parties; and the same happens with malapportionment. Both things accumulate into a geographical electoral price which results in a conservative bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyse the influence of the 2008 and 2011 Spanish electoral campaigns on political efficacy. For this purpose, we employ statistical analysis with poll data. The results support the hypothesis that electoral campaigns can have a positive impact on political efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local women's councils are strategic places to channel women's participation and demands in order to promote gender policies at the local level. Nevertheless, as well as other participatory mechanisms, their dynamics could be biased according to participant's characteristics and the institutional agenda of local government. In this paper we try to show evidences about theses bias trough a survey carry out among women's associations in five Spanish cities. Results show that the participatory dynamic of local women's councils produces two kind of bias: an inclusiveness bias according to the traits of women's organizations, favouring those more oriented towards political activism; and a substantive bias according to the issues discussed, favouring those close to the local government agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article takes over, from an empirical perspective, one of the classic concerns of normative theories of democracy: political community size and citizen participation. Although it focuses on voter turnout, this paper makes a simple question: why and how the political body size can influence the political behaviour of its residents. For this purpose, we examine, from an aggregate approach, the relationship between "size" and turnout in different types of elections in Andalusia, in the period 1999-2011. Our ecological analysis of participation, by using multi-regression techniques, shows that population size is the main "civic" characteristic of localities. However, other characteristics of local contexts, such as income and subsidized agrarian population, are positively related to participation. Our results suggest that individual theories of voting behaviour should also take into account the contextual factor when offering their conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While significant attention has been put to the factors which influence both the adoption of electoral quotas and the effectiveness of quota reform processes, we still know very little about the potentially distinct characteristics of women elected with and without positive action measures. In addition, the predictions put forward by opponents to quotas affecting candidate selection processes and candidates' profiles have barely been tested. This paper will examine the Catalan parliament in the period 1980-2010 in order to explore quotas' effects on recruitment processes and to examine women's profiles prior and after quota adoption. When analyzing candidate selection processes, predictions on the formation of a glass ceiling for women and the insufficient number of women willing to become candidates are tested. The study of women's profiles evaluates whether predictions on inferior qualification and tokenism by 'quota women' are confirmed by empirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present a new electoral system for the Spanish Congress. This new system does not require any changes in the current Spanish Constitution. The main objectives are representativity, governability and equity. For this purpose, political party seats are allocated in several stages, and a biproportional allotment is applied to determine how many seats are allocated to each party in each constituency. The possibilities of forming stable governments, with the proposed electoral systems, are similar to those obtained with the present electoral system; however with the proposed system the results are more equal in the sense that two parties with a similar number of votes would obtain the same or nearly the same number of seats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political corruption is a key theoretical issue regarding the quality of democracy. And it was a main theme from the empirical point of view during the last Spanish local elections, held on May 27, 2007. This paper focuses upon the electoral behaviour of foreigners on that occasion and aims to know whether and to what extent corruption mobilized those citizens. Data confirm that there is a relationship between public charges of political corruption and electoral mobilization, but this is not enough as to affect election results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on analysis of public opinion towards European integration in Greece, Portugal and Spain, countries known for their positive attitudes toward integration. In particular, the article analyses how public attitudes towards Europe have been formed in these countries. Secondly, it examines the determining factors of citizens' positive attitudes toward integration and shows the types of variables that are essential to understanding the differences between Greeks, Spaniards and the Portuguese. It also examines traditional euro-optimism in these southern countries. The findings show the relevance of identity and the various impacts of party platforms and ideology in attitudes of support for European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to shed new light on the causes of split-ticket voting in concurrent multi-level national and regional elections held under PR electoral rules. Up to now, differences in electoral outcomes in Spanish concurrent elections have been understood as a product of the mechanisms associated with second order elections. Evidence against this interpretation is presented, and alternative explanations from the international literature are tested. We find that, on one hand, Andalusian intrablock and regionalist ticket-splitters weigh their national and regional electoral choices differently: While in the national arena ideology is the main predictor of electoral behavior, at the regional level ticket-splitters tend to cross ideological lines and vote based on the performance of regional politicians or a preference for local leaders. On the other hand, interblock ticket-splitters seem to balance their votes ideologically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the evolution of women's presence in both chambers of Spanish Parliament —Congress and Senate— during the last three decades, as well as in the European Parliament since 1986. The patterns of transformation in female representation are then compared with a) other lower houses in the rest of the EU countries, b) Spanish regional parliaments and c) other levels of political power such as national, regional and local governments. Further, the question of gender in political parties is raised. Finally, we identify the main socio-demographic differences and similarities that characterize female MPs and Senators in comparison to their male counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]