The de-parlamentarisation of the Spanish Political System. From an excessively rationalized parliamentarism to a «diluted» Parliament

Abstract

Spain’s 2007 political crisis gave birth to the M-15 movement and the emergence of new parties in 2011. Few could have predicted that such a crisis would not only test the so-far prevailing two-party system, but it would also lead to a situation of severe political instability during the December 2015 elections. Since then, several unprecedented events have occurred in our recent constitutional history, namely: two anticipated dissolutions of the Parliament due to the lack of agreement to elect a President of the government; candidates who renounced to undergo the investiture procedure, as it was the case of Mariano Rajoy; or, candidates who, after the first vote failed, did not follow up to a second one, probably because of fear of being invested when they rather preferred second elections. We have also witnessed the paradox of five national budgets approved in the same term and the extension of several of them: a motion of censure that has prospered for the first time, an unimaginable use of the government’s veto on legislative initiatives with budgetary implications, and the use of Parliamentary seats to prevent the renewal of fundamental constitutional bodies. Tthe latter, however, is not so new. In the pages that follow, we will analyze the effect that all these events have had on the position and functions of the Parliament, the central organ of our constitutional system, given its character as the only directly democratically legitimised organ. We will focus on the period from the end of 2015 to December 2019, comprising the 11th and 12th Legislatures.

Summary:

I. INTRODUCTION. II. THE POSITION OF THE “CORTES GENERALES” WITHIN THE SPANISH PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM. A BRIEF NOTE ON AN EXCESSIVELY RATIONALISED MODEL. III. PARLIAMENTARY ACTIVITY IN THE 2011-2015 PERIOD: A “DILUTED “PARLIAMENT.1. The investiture of the presidency of the government as the first parliamentary mission. 2. The end of the principle of the annual nature of the budget. 3. A Parliament that does not legislate. 4. The trivialization of monitoring Government action. 5. An almost impossible mission: the parliamentary appointment. IV. FINAL REFLECTION. THE DE-PARLIAMENTARISATION OF THE SPANISH POLITICAL SYSTEM.