Comparative Democratisation and Spanish Transition - Essay Example

Order 155279 COMPARATIVE DEMOCRATISATION. Spanish Transition (Distinctive) The main distinctive feature about the Spanish transition is the change of dictatorship to democracy. The Spanish transition to democracy or new Bourbon restoration was the era when Spain had to move from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition began with Franco's death on November 20, 1975. The completion was marked by the Spanish constitution of 1978, the failure of Antonio Tesero's attempted coup on February 23, 1981, or the electoral victory of the socialist PSOE on October 28, 1982. The death of Franco elevated Dan Juan Carlos de Bourbon to the monarchy. Until Franco's death, Juan Carlos had discreetly stood in the background and served to follow the dictator's plan. However once in power as king of Spain Juan Carlos facilitated the development of the current political system, as his father, Don Juan de Bourbon had advocated since 1946. Juan Carlos began his reign without leaving the confines of Franco's legal system. As such he swore fidelity to the principles of the movement national, the sole legal party of the Franco era. He took possession of the crown before the Francoist Cortes Generales and respected Ley Organica del Estado (the organic law of the state) for the appointment of his first head of government. He showed the beginning of transition through his speech before the Cortes. The first government of Juan Carlos was presided over by Carlos Arias Navarro. The king made this appointment in accordance with the guidelines of the 1966 Ley organica Del Estado (organic law of the state). However in July 1976, as Prime Minister Arias Navarro continued to delay reform and object to democratisation, King Juan Carlos demanded his resignation. Fernandez Miranda, as president of the council of the kingdom, obtained Adolfo Suarez's placements on the new list of three candidates for head of the government. The king chose Suarez because he felt he would be able to meet the challenge of the would be political process that lay ahead. Adolfo Suarez quickly presented a clear program based on how two points; (a) The development of a law for political reform that once approved by the Cortes and Spanish public in a referendum would open the constituent process for creating a liberal democracy in Spain. (b) A call for democratic elections in June 1977, in order to elect a Cortes that would be charged with drawing up a new democratic constitution. Despite all difficulties from the army and opposition Suarez's project went underway without delay between July 1976 and June 1977. The draft of the law for political reform (Ley para la Reforma politiza) written by Torcuato Fernandez Miranda was approved by the Suarez Government in September 1976. This law was debated throughout the month of November by Cortes under the presidency of Fernandez-Miranda. It was approved with 425 votes in favour, 598 against and 13 abstentions. The Suarez government wanted to gain further legitimacy for the changes through a popular referendum with 77.72 % participation rate. 94% of the voters voted in favour of the changes to add to his credibility Suarez, freed 400 prisoners in July 1976. He also granted blanket amnesty in May same year. In December 1976, he disbanded the Tribunal de Order Publica (TOP), a sort of Francoist secret police. He legalized the right to strike, with the right to unionize being granted a month after Suarez initiated political contact with the opposition by meeting Felipe Gonzalez, secretary general of the PSOE in 1976. However the big problem was for political normalization was the legalization of the communist party of Spain (Partido communista de Espania). PCE's secretary general, Santiago Carrillo's offer of a "social pact" pushed Suarez to take the riskiest step of transition by legalizing PCE in April 1977. To resolve the difficulty of a group of hard -liner Francoist led by Jose Antonio Giron, Suarez centered on General Diez Alegria. He decided to give the members this group the positive of authority with the most responsibility. Suarez dismissed Ferrando de Santiago and nominated Gutierrez Mellado. Gutierrez Mellado nominated and promoted officials who supported political reform and removed those commanders of security forces (Policia Armada and the Guardia civil) who seemed to support preserving the Francoist regime. The elections that were held in June 15, 1977 confirmed the existence of four important political forces at the national level. The results were; (a) Union of the Democratic Center (UCD-Union de Centro Democratico) 31.1%. (b) Spanish socialist workers party (PSOE-Partido Communista de Espnia) 9.4% (c) Popular alliance (AP- Alianza popular) 8.5% The Cortes began to draft a constitution in the summer of 1977 and in 1978 the Mancloa pact was formed, under which major parties agreed on major provisions of a new constitution to ensure its passage through the constituent Cortes. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 went on to be approved in a referendum on the December 6, 1978. Antonio Tejero, breaking into the congress of deputies February 23, 1981 attempted a coup. UCD received a plurality, but not an absolute majority, in both the June 1977 and March 1979 elections. In order to exercise power the UCD had to form parliamentary elections with other political parties. In 1980 the Suarez government had for the most part accomplished its goals of transition democracy and locked a further clear agenda. The clashes among the several tendencies inside the party eroded Suarez's authority and his role as a leader. The tension exploded in 1981. Suarez resigned as the head of government and Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was appointed, first to lead the new cabinet and later to he presidency of UCD. Calvo Sotelo dissolved parliament and called elections for October 1982 the UCD suffered a speculation defeat. The elections gave an absolute majority to PSOE, which had already spent many years preparing its image of an alternative government. Winning an absolute majority in 1982 and 1986 and exactly half the seats in 1989 allowed the party to legislate and govern without establishing facts with other parliamentary political forces. In this way PSOE could make laws to achieve the goals of its political program "el Cambito" ("the change") In this regard, the Spanish transition all the way from 1975-1982 was distinctive in nature in the following sense; - Firstly, it was during this transition period that the end of the dictatorship of Franco came to an end. The state translated to a liberal democratic state. Secondly during this transition, Spain adopted a new constitution, which was overwhelming voted for during the 1976 referendum Thirdly legalization of the communist political party (Partido Communista de Espania) took place. Most activists had supported the legalization of the party. Fourthly, Spain held democratic elections in June 1977 and March 1979 under which a democratically elected government was appointed led by Suarez. In general the transition in Spain was democratic. It brought to an end of Francoist regime, which was authoritarian. OTHER TRANSITIONS i) TRANSITION IN CHINA Hu Jintao succeeded Jiang Zemin as the president of china in March 2003. Jiang Zemin was the president of china for 15 years. Hu Jintao assumed commanding political authority over the nation's affair when he became the chairman of the central military commission (CMC) of the communist party of china (CPC). He continues to hold the pivotal position as the general secretary of the CPC. Until the time when he assumed charge at the apex level of the CMC, Hu was the vice-chairman of the same body, which was presided over by Jiang Zemin for 15 years. Ever since he succeeded Jiang as the CPC general secretary in November 2002 a change of guard at the helm of CMC was always on the cards. Hu's power and authority in china is absolute. He is in charge of china's governance, including economic and military issues. In an address to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the national peoples congress, china's parliament Hu categorically stated that the adoption of western political models would only lead the country to a "dead end". The fourth plenum of the 16th CPC central committee, which approved Hu's assumption of the past of CMC chairman, noted that it was conducive to uphold the fundamental principle and system of the party's absolute leadership over the military. Hu's accession as CMC chairman was also seen to be conducive to the strengthening of the military's revolution, modernization and regularization process. Two aspect of this transition are particularly significant. First the CPC plenum indicated that all branches of china's people's liberation army were now adhering to what was characterized as "the Jiang Zemin thought for national defense and army -building". The second significant aspect of the new CMC- related development is the clear indication that the party has given about the smoothness of the hand -over of authority. Fulsome was the CPC plenum's 'take' on the transition that the communiqu said that the four-day meeting had highly evaluated comrade Jiang Zemin's outstanding contributions to the party, the state and the people. According to Chinese political scientist Yongnian; "a more realistic scenario of regime change in china is gradual political liberalization "using the political terminology of western vintage, he has argued "power struggle is unlikely to lead a regime collapse" in china. ii) TRANSITION IN RUSSIA Russia's transition from communism to market democracy was not easy task. At the end of 1980s, Russia (rather Soviet Union) encountered formidable challenges associated with four different transformational processes. It was those processes that determined the country's development throughout the 1990s. Russia faced the challenges of the post-industrial epoch. Transitions from an industrial to a part -industrial society was accompanied by sever structural and macro-economic crises, such as those the western countries experienced from the 1990s onwards. Soviet Union was able to delay its structural adjustments to the new challenges. The process of revolutionary transformation was practically completed. The restoration of the state is a practically completed. The restoration of the state is evidence. There is political stabilization. In 1999 analysis of political parties' pre-election programs showed the reference points of the main political groups to be converging. A common system of fundamental political values, which are above political dispute, is emerging. Putin's first presidency (200-2004) brought new elements to the pattern of post-revolutionary political and economic stabilization. A steady pro-government majority was being formed in lower house-the duma. Practically every new bill sponsored by the government could now rely on parliamentary support, which was very important for the political regime to further advance its initiatives on the other hand, there was less political haggling over each specific bill, and hence more consistent pursuits of the government's chosen course. Also the system relation between the government and the opposition was assuming the form of typical stable democratic societies. Persuasively, it can be agreed that the goods of post -communist transformation have been successfully accomplished. The communist system was distinguished by three main political characteristics. A totalitarian political regime, absolute domination of state ownership in the economy and shortage of goods as a basic constituent of economic and political life. The end of 1990s had eliminated the three features of communism eliminated in Russia. Bibliography 1. Spanish transition to democracy, Wikipedia, encyclopedia (www. Wikipedia.org) 2. Frontline, India's National Magazine, Volume 21- Issue 20, Sept. 25 - Oct. 08, 2004 3. Russia in global affairs, Journal on foreign affairs and international relations, Current issue. 4. www.icdt.hu Read More