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The article comments on the research paper titled "Too much democracy in all the wrong places: toward a grammar of participation." It states that the author of the paper expressed a skeptical and critical tone presents us with an accurate interpretation of participation as a form of governance, a mechanism of domination, and mentions a study on a rural, depopulated area of Asturias, in northwestern Spain, through an ethnographic approach to the changing governance structures.

A crucial issue in the European Union (EU) is which policies should be regulated by EU and which ones by national governments. Given this situation it is interesting to study the citizens' preference for the level of political decision making. The interest of the paper is mainly empirical, which consists in the creation of a measure for supranationalism decision making from different measured policies and to study how personal variables affect the level of political decision. A combination of Item response theory (IRT) and structural equation modeling (SEM) will be used. IRT is useful to discover whether a cumulative scale for different policies exists, and SEM will be used as validity of the supranationalism scale. Multiple group Confirmatory Factor analysis taking into account invariance tests will be used to compare the differences within gender, age, education and political trust with supranationalism scale. A whole model combining all these predictors and the supranationalism scale can be done using multiple input multiple cause-MIMIC models. The application is based on Spanish data from the European Social Survey. Differences in education and age on the level of political decision making are found. The combination of IRT and SEM methods it of great interest in the case is the researcher wants to fulfill both goals, creating the construct for supranationalism and validation of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method to make measurable what was not: the discourses of politicians regarding decentralization. For this purpose, we develop a “matrix of arguments” and a set of indexes, and apply them to provide a snapshot of the politicians’ views on the “General Law of Budgetary Stability”, a landmark for the process of decentralization in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social trust and political trust are, amongst others, key social capital factors. This paper examines the accuracy of their measurement and comparability across different time periods. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) is performed and different levels of measurement invariance (configural, metric and scalar) are tested. Data used are from European Social Survey for the years 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008, in relation to Spanish citizens. Factor means for social and political trust are compared across time in Spain. Political and social trust show stability across time, except in 2004 with a higher level of political trust and 2006 with a higher level of social trust in Spain. Comparison with traditional composite scores shows the inaccuracy of such measurement for data comparison across time. Finally, consequences of using inaccurate measurements, and methodological recommendations concerning model fit structural equation models are delineated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the political responsibilities of women in local governments of 155 town councils across Spain. The main objective is to examine the situation of female politicians within municipal governments, focusing on the division of power roles (vertical segregation) and the different areas of government (horizontal segregation). We suggest that the gender roles/stereotypes approach may explain the situation of women in formal politics and the inequalities that we have found in these local governments. This approach is combined with the power theory. Thus, a key factor in explaining this situation may also be the dominant role of men in traditional power structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the 2000, 2008 and 2011 Spanish elections, this paper provides three contributions to the literature on electoral competition from a Downsian perspective. Firstly, an answer is offered to the three paradoxes that arise when applying the basic proximity vote model to electoral competition in Spain. Secondly, a more solid theoretical and empirical grounding is provided for the existing proposals to integrate non-positional issues into the Downsian model. Finally, a type of logistic regression is employed which is more appropriate for understanding the behaviour of the median voter, whose role is crucial in Spanish election results. Our fi ndings have important implications in understanding the workings of one of the most commonly used models in political science. [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]

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]

This research paper seeks to confirm the hypothesis according to which political consumerism can be considered a form of political participation that cosmopolitanism is helping to develop. After analysing the theoretical implications of this hypothesis, the study presents an operationalization of cosmopolitanism which shows its greater presence among those individuals who have bought or boycotted products for ethical, political or environmental reasons. This is followed by a further verification of the association between cosmopolitanism and political consumerism, controlling for the effect of the main socio-demographic variables on the latter. The study confirms the hypothesis that political consumption can be regarded as a form of political participation related to cosmopolitanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When voters cast their ballot, are they choosing a candidate or a party? Electoral systems have a significant impact on how this question is answered in each country. As previous literature has shown, some electoral rules foster a more personal representation, while others strengthen the intermediary role of parties. In this paper I maintain that there exists a trade-off between these two types of representation. To empirically verify its existence and how it works, I have chosen local and regional elections in Spain as a case study. Given that they take place simultaneously under similar electoral systems, they can be considered a natural experiment for the study of this trade-off, which allows me to overcome the potential problems of endogeneity present in previous studies. By measuring the significance of ideological closeness and candidate evaluations in voters' decisions at each level, it is shown that the importance of personal representation increases in local elections at the expense of a less frequent use of ideological proximity as an informational shortcut, thus confirming the existence of the trade-off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of the democratic participation of immigrants has been the object of an extensive, theoretical and empirical literature. Nevertheless, we still lack detailed information on those internal dynamics of political parties which shape patterns of participation and representation of immigrants and their descendants, especially in Spain. We focus on how immigrants incorporate political parties in Spain and how this mode of incorporation influences the opportunities for immigrants to access elite positions and candidacies. On the one hand we examine individual trajectories in accessing and evolving in parties and, on the other hand, party strategies to reach out and include immigrants. We acknowledge a persisting gap between the access and participation in political parties, which has been facilitated over recent years, and the many obstacles in accessing elite and candidate positions in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates whether political violence has long-term effects on attitudes toward political participation. This is an interesting topic because public engagement and social capital play a crucial role in shaping the economy and democracy. We exploit a recent survey on the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War to shed light on this question. Our findings indicate that being a member of a family that suffered violence during the Civil War is related to a higher interest, knowledge and engagement in politics. These results stand in stark contrast to the common expectation that political violence leads to lower public engagement, while they are consistent with other studies focusing on the short-term consequences of civil conflicts. Therefore, the legacy of political violence, far from creating political apathy, may be the higher involvement of citizens in politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Revista de Historia Actual is the property of Asociacion de Historia Actual and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The main contribution of the article is to highlight the fact that preferences for inter-regional redistribution in Spain are crucially shaped by the dynamics of party competition. First, I show that it is not regional income but the saliency of the second dimension of party politics that drives preferences for regional redistribution. Second, I analyse whether the relationship between partisan attitudes and redistributive preferences is conditional on the saliency of the second dimension across various regions. Third, I also investigate whether the relationship between partisan attitudes and redistributive preferences changes between cohorts within a given party system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This work evaluates the receptivity of the Spanish electorate to policy positions that are distant from the status quo. To that end, two spatial voting models are considered: the proximity and the directional model. The analysis also evaluates the econometric consequences of employing subsidiary measures of the status quo in policy spaces. The result suggests that the majority of the Spanish electorate adjusts to a hybrid model of spatial voting, where proximity dominates. Only the supporters of the main opposition party are receptive to non-moderate policy declarations. Altogether, this work helps unravel the microfoundations of party competition in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, we examine which political issues are considered most important by the Spanish electorate. Although a variety of potentially relevant issues are available, voters are forced to summarise them in just one vote. Thus, they need to prioritise some issues over others. This article analyses which issues end up being the most important for the Spanish electorate when they decide their vote, and why some issues become more influential than others. Our hypothesis is that voters give more weight to issues that polarise the parties. The hypothesis is tested at the individual and at the aggregate level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One of the conclusions of Inglehart's work is that postmaterialism leads to higher rates of political action. Particularly, postmaterialists are opposed to the established social order and support citizen input in government decisions in a horizontal way. These attitudes would be associated with unconventional political participation. The objective of this article is to examine to what extent this holds true in the Spanish case in the period 1980-2000. The authors' analysis reveals that in Spain there has not been a systematic rejection of electoral participation as a result of the rise of postmaterialism. Nevertheless, postmaterialists are more likely to engage in unconventional participation and participation in new associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the politics of memory in contemporary Spain. It shows the value for cultural analysis of an understanding of legal debates and practices. It also mentions that the examination of political activism is essential if one is to avoid the traps of a public discourse based on victimhood, such as that which has evolved in Spain since the late 1990s. The author said that Angel Loureiro expresses anxiety regarding the appeal to sentimentality in the public dissemination of victims' suffering. Moreover, he said that Antonio Monegal adheres to the value of conserving and showing material remains from the war.

Political representation is a complex concept due to its multidimensional and contested nature. This lack of unequivocal meaning has triggered a theoretical dispute about what 'acting for others' should actually involve. In this article we argue that the main actors involved in the process of political representation (political parties and the electorate) also hold alternative conceptions. In an attempt to link political theory to empirical analysis, we use survey data to prove our argument. By attaching dissimilar weights to each of the dimensions, parties and voters defend different interpretations of the political representation concept, which stem from their ideological positions. Nonetheless, there is a significant correspondence between parties' interpretations and their electorates'. Furthermore, we demonstrate how the weight attached to each dimension by voters influences their attitudes towards political parties and their satisfaction with democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neither the devolution of powers to the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain nor more than a decade of power-sharing within this region has led to a peaceful settlement of the Basque conflict. Combining Kriesberg's approach to conflict resolution and consociational theory, past power-sharing experiences are analysed. The lack of overarching loyalties, traditions of compromise, comprehensive participation and the continuation of violence have frustrated power-sharing. After the 2006 ceasefire, the conditions for giving the conflict a constructive turn have not fundamentally changed. The potential for alternative forms of power-sharing as a way out of the Basque conflict, combined or not with innovative territorial arrangements cannot be employed because of multi-scale polarisation. De-escalation as a prerequisite for new types of power-sharing arrangements requires relearning democratic pluralism and a recognition of ethnic hybridity in this politically and geographically fragmented society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the evolution of the Spanish Popular Party (PP) in a decade in which, after 20 years in opposition, it reached national government, ruling Spain from 1996 to 2004, and finally going unexpectedly into opposition. This period is characterized by a lack of fundamental party changes, making the PP a clear example of how, when a party succeeds, internal changes are unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the evolution of the Spanish Workers' Socialist Party (PSOE) in a decade in which it has gone from government to opposition and, more recently, back into office after the 2004 general elections. After a troublesome process of leadership renewal, the election of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero started a change in party strategy, as well as a revitalization of the party organization that allowed the PSOE to regain credibility among Spaniards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]