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The Road to Democracy: A Case Study of the Democratic Consolidation in Spain

Eventhén, Leakim LU (2022) STVK02 20221
Department of Political Science
Abstract
This thesis is a case study of the democratic consolidation in Spain. The study initially presents theories on democratic consolidation, as interpreted and defined by renowned political scientist. Then, different factors are presented known to have contributed to democratization in the Spanish case. These are; the role of the military refurbishment, the impact of EU membership, the actions of King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, the role of the 1978 Spanish constitution, and civil society’s role. The study then utilizes the previously presented theories on democratic consolidation to test whether or not the factors known to have contributed to democratization also contributed to democratic consolidation in the country.

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This thesis is a case study of the democratic consolidation in Spain. The study initially presents theories on democratic consolidation, as interpreted and defined by renowned political scientist. Then, different factors are presented known to have contributed to democratization in the Spanish case. These are; the role of the military refurbishment, the impact of EU membership, the actions of King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, the role of the 1978 Spanish constitution, and civil society’s role. The study then utilizes the previously presented theories on democratic consolidation to test whether or not the factors known to have contributed to democratization also contributed to democratic consolidation in the country.

The results of the study demonstrate that the following factors were important for Spain’s democratic consolidation; ensuring civilian control over the military, that the 1978 Constitution ensured that Spain’s different regions would enjoy a certain degree of autonomy, that Spain’s EU membership required the country to fulfil the unions democratic membership criteria, and that Juan Carlos I and Adolfo Suárez sought to democratize Spain. It was also found that civil society’s role was not as relevant for democratic consolidation in Spain as it has been in other cases. (Less)
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author
Eventhén, Leakim LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK02 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Spain, Juan Carlos I, Adolfo Suárez, European Union, military, civil society, democratic consolidation, democratization, constitutional design
language
English
additional info
The author of this thesis hereby wishes to acknowledge Mr. Dario Otero Castro, Deputy-Head of Mission at the Embassy of Spain in Stockholm, for his initial inspiration, as well as Dr. Anders Sannerstedt, Associate Professor of Political Science at Lund University, for his invaluable knowledge and generous support.
id
9080107
date added to LUP
2022-07-03 08:09:41
date last changed
2022-07-03 08:09:41
@misc{9080107,
  abstract     = {{This thesis is a case study of the democratic consolidation in Spain. The study initially presents theories on democratic consolidation, as interpreted and defined by renowned political scientist. Then, different factors are presented known to have contributed to democratization in the Spanish case. These are; the role of the military refurbishment, the impact of EU membership, the actions of King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, the role of the 1978 Spanish constitution, and civil society’s role. The study then utilizes the previously presented theories on democratic consolidation to test whether or not the factors known to have contributed to democratization also contributed to democratic consolidation in the country.

The results of the study demonstrate that the following factors were important for Spain’s democratic consolidation; ensuring civilian control over the military, that the 1978 Constitution ensured that Spain’s different regions would enjoy a certain degree of autonomy, that Spain’s EU membership required the country to fulfil the unions democratic membership criteria, and that Juan Carlos I and Adolfo Suárez sought to democratize Spain. It was also found that civil society’s role was not as relevant for democratic consolidation in Spain as it has been in other cases.}},
  author       = {{Eventhén, Leakim}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Road to Democracy: A Case Study of the Democratic Consolidation in Spain}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}