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Few would have imagined the developments and the extent of reforms that occurred under Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero between 2004 and 2008. Under Zapatero, Spain rapidly withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq, held a very public political debate on the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship, passed very progressive social legislation that included gay marriage and adoption as well as a sweeping gender equality act, and expanded autonomy in six of Spain’s 17 regions. It has become quite common to refer to some or all of these developments as a ‘second transition’ that alters or revisits policies, institutional arrangements and political strategies that were established during Spain’s transition to democracy.

This book analyzes the patterns of continuity and change and provides a nuanced, critical evaluation of the concept of a ‘second transition’. Three broad questions are addressed. First, to what degree do the developments under Zapatero’s Socialist government represent a departure from prior patterns of Spanish politics? Second, what accounts for the continuities and departures? Finally, the project begins to assess the implications of these developments. Are there lasting effects, for example, on political participation, electoral alignments, interparty and inter-regional relations more broadly?

This book was published as a special issue of South European Society & Politics.

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Originally published in Mexico as Gobierno y Sociedad en Nueva Espana, Ethelia Ruiz MedranoÂ’s seminal study is now available in this updated English edition. Drawing on extensive archival research, Ruiz examines the developing colonial institutions in Mexico and how they changed indigenous land ownership and labor laws to favor the new bureaucrats. This portrait of the emerging government in New Spain fills a critical niche in Latin American studies. ... Read more

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This book concentrates on the political history of the reign of Philip IV, and the role of the king within it. Philip is kept near the forefront, and issues and events are often seen - if sometimes critically - from his viewpoint. It is, therefore, a work of revision and rehabilitation, representing an attempt (against all other extant accounts) to establish Philip IV as a positive figure, with an autonomous character and political identity. A secondary, supportive, intention is to demonstrate that after the fall of Olivares, the king ruled and governed without a favourite (valido). This is the central theme in the most detailed treatment of the second half of the reign available in any language. Reference is made throughout to Philip's own words and actions. At the same time, the Olivares period itself is approached from a new perspective, some issues being examined with the use of new material. Although not intended as a conventional biography, the book retains several characteristics of the form, in that it is a 'career-study', part thematic, part chronological. Philip IV is examined also in relation to the political writing of the age, and to his court and capital in Madrid. ... Read more

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Pretty good, but dry
All in all, "Philip IV and the Government of Spain" is a good book and an excellent one indeed concerning its subject matter. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find a book written on Philip IV that isn't patently condemnatory in tone. Case in point: the National Enquirer-like book by Martin Hume written some 70 years ago. In contrast, Mr. Stradling is an intelligent and discerning writer, who, I feel, makes a pretty good case that Philip was less of the conscience-stricken fool than historians make him out to be. That being said, the main problem with the book by Stradling is that it is extremely dry and lacks the literary charisma that might make it more readable. I also feel that the author should have included more basic history of the reign alongside the purely governmental. For that reason, the book is only for those who really, truly care about Philip IV and are willing to slog through the bureaucratic inertia to get at Stradling's argument. ... Read more

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Spain's evolution from authoritarian dictatorship to modern democracy was a remarkable achievement, and it created a model that has since been emulated by other countries undergoing similar transitions. Yet its success raised a question that perplexes experts to this day: how and why did a successful democracy emerge in the absence of any tradition of democratic stability? This landmark textbook examines the causes and conditions that explain modern Spain's political development, and analyzes the basic characteristics of Spanish democracy today - its core political institutions, its political parties and party systems (both regional and national), and patterns of electoral behaviour. Written by two leading experts in the field, this is a truly indispensable guide for all undergraduate students of Spanish politics, history, society, and culture. ... Read more

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The Frenchman Juan de Grimaldi was instrumental in the development of the Spanish theatre in the 1820s and 30s, at a time when censorship, repression, and economic chaos had left it in a state of stagnation. As impresario and stage director, he trained actors in the new style of declamation, made physical changes in sets and lighting, translated recent French plays into Spanish, and encouraged the writing of original Spanish plays. His own magical comedy,La Pata de Cabra(1829), was outstandingly successful. Grimaldi was also a wealthy businessman and newspaper editor, and the patron of many important Spanish Romantic writers. He was active in politics, vigorously defending the moderate policies of the Queen Regent, María Cristina, and of Prime Minister Ramón de Nerváez. Even after his return to Paris, Grimaldi continued to work secretly as an agent of the Spanish government. Based on original archival materials, this is the first in-depth study of Grimaldi's involvement in the literary and political progress of nineteenth-century Spain. ... Read more

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Spain Foreign Policy and Government Guide ... Read more

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Spain Government And Business Contacts Handbook (World Business, Investment and Government Library) ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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A collection of essays which explore government in Medieval Spain, focusing on King Alfonso X and the Cortes. Essays cover the integration of Christian Spain into Europe, the Cortes and royal taxation, the economic and financial policies of Alfonso the Learned, and Kings and Lords in conflict. ... Read more

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Spain has been changing its institutional framework in important ways over the past thirty years. The country has gone from a dictatorship to a democracy, from a unitary state to a decentralized one, from authoritarian politics to a self-conscious, civil society with a developed welfare state within a European context. Federal development in post-Franco Spain reaches far beyond familiar Basque/Catalan nationalistic struggles and includes the creation of an increasing number of intergovernmental networks by local governments, particularly municipalities, as they engage regional, central, and other local entities to operate programs and services in basic and emergent policy areas. By examining the intergovernmental networks in an increasingly federalized Spain, Robert Agranoff shows that local governments, although they occupy a strong position in legal and constitutional terms, are in practice subordinate to both central and regional governments and therefore lack adequate power and resources to deal with both the responsibilities assigned to them and those they'd like to assume.As a result, local governments are forced into a series of intergovernmental arrangements and transactions with governmental and nongovernmental organizations. The Spanish situation provides important insights into intergovernmental relations in all decentralized countries, particularly in revealing how autonomy can create a host of complex intergovernmental linkages, partnerships, and transactions that require complex networks at the elected official and administrative level. ... Read more

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In Spain between 1936-1945, the Franco regime carried out one Europe’s more brutal but less remembered programs of mass repression. Many were murdered by the regime’s death squads, and in some areas Francoists also subjected up to 15% of the population to summary military trials. Here many suffered the death sentence or jail terms up to thirty years. Although historians have recognised the staggering scale of the trials, they have tended to overlook the mass participation that underpinned them. In contrast to the discussion in other European countries, little attention has been paid to the wide scale collusion in the killings and incarcerations in Spain.

Exploring mass complicity in the trials of hundreds of thousands of defeated Republicans following the end of the Spanish Civil War, The Francoist Military Trials probes local Francoists’ accusations whereby victims were selected for prosecution in military courts. It also shows how insubstantial and hostile testimony formed the bedrock of ‘investigations’, secured convictions, and shaped the harsh sentencing practices of Franco’s military judges. Using civil court records, it also documents how grassroots Francoists continued harassing Republicans for many years after they emerged from prison. Challenging the popularly prevalent view that the Franco regime imposed a police state upon a passive Spanish society, the evidence Anderson uncovers here illustrates that local state officials and members of the regime’s support base together forged a powerful repressive system that allowed them to wage war on elements of their own society to a greater extent than perhaps even the Nazis managed against their own population.

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A sibling of interwar Europe's other fascist regimes, Franco's Spain survived them all, growing to a feeble old age in an era of liberal democracy. This book looks beyond the mythology surrounding the origins of Franco's dictatorship to provide a critical overview of the regime as a whole. All phases of this history are covered: the dictatorship's emergence out of a bloody uprising against a democratic government; the "high period" of Francoism with all its poverty, hunger, and fear, as followed by a complex time of change and economic growth; and the final demise of Franco's reign amid open opposition and internal defections. Indeed, economic and social issue are as much a part this story as politics, and international relations find their place in Franco's Spain alongside purely domestic issues. The study also peers beyond the grave in its examination of the transition to democracy after Franco's death in 1975. ... Read more

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Modern history

Very concise but complete history of Spain under Franco, written for scholars OR people with more casual interest in the period ... Read more

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Most accounts on the Spanish transition to democracy of the late 1970s are based on a false dilemma. Its simplest formulation could be: was it the pressure from below, i.e. the organized working classes, students and neighbors associations that triggered political change; or was the elite settlement reached by the regime soft-liners and the moderate sectors of the democratic opposition that established it? This new and innovative volume appraises the movement towards a more democratic Spain from a variety of important perspectives; the collection of essays sheds light on the wide range of crucial processes, institutions and actors involved in the political transformation that operated in the Spanish instance of the Third Wave of democratization.

By making comparisons to other democratic transitions, synthesizing the ideas of several leading Spanish History scholars, as well as incorporating new voices involved in creating the directions of research to come, The Politics and Memory of Democratic Transition offers a thorough and vital look at this key period in contemporary Spanish history, taking stock of critical lessons to be gleaned from the Spanish Transition, and pointing the way toward its future as a democratic nation.

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`This book is essential reading for whoever wants to understand Spain today and its protagonists, both individual and collective. In the best British tradition, recent politics here becomes history.' - TLS ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

too much foreign optimism
This book is good or at less has that solidity very own of British essays and works. Here in Spain, this books have great acceptation, as Spaniard people seems in very big need to reassure about his own worth in this world after so many centuries of decadence. In order to attain this security, favourable English books and authors are very appreciated here. Spain is, as I say, a country with a big inferiority complex.
But I'm afraid, as many of these books, the author sees a Spain triumphant mainly because he's a friend of Spain and Spanish costumes and people. Not all authors are, as not everybody tastes the same meal.
I'm Spanish, and I'm more pessimistic than Paul Preston, as I think democracy isn't consolidated here,after seeing his evolution during 30 years in my country. This is because Spain has a hard obstacle to become a full democracy: simply, the averageSpaniard hasn't a democratic soul at hearth.
Yes we can have the letter of the constitution and the external forms, but common Spanish people is roughly, ancestrally authoritarian.
Furthermore, the Spanish citizen votes every 4 years, yes, but in these interval, he's virtually a subject semi- enslaved by stupid functionaries and politics, useless corrupted people which have multiplied owing to the harmful system of the "automomías". These are a conjunction of the antique provinces, as the states that constitute the USA, but Spain isn't by far as the USA, nor for extension nor for his weak development. Spain yes, is a very old country, but nowadays we have the danger of vanishing as an united country, as in the Balkans, having in count the strong world economical crisis of today. Concretely, Andalucia, a vast territory in the South, has a semi- african- moorish level of life terribly delayed that can't be included with justice in an European standardof life.
Here, socialor civic associations are virtually non existent, and institutions as the ombudsman, a bitter parody.
And so, you don't deceive: Spaniards doesn't like democracy very much, nor monarchy, in spite the massive, stupid propaganda from TV and "liberal" newspapers. Many, many people are as dumb, but they are truly nostalgic of Franco.
This is logical: in Spain never happened a French revolution, nor we had an Oliver Cromwell, nor here has been a really good scientific education (education and culture is a pure farce here, with -another time-some exceptions).
Of course, there are another regimes not democratic that made to worka country, but at less, it's necessary to recognize that.
This is very important to be aware, as I think the present world economical crisis has to probe very hardly the solidity of Spanish democracy.

A fine review of Post-Franco Spain
Paul Preston's study of Spain's year of transition following the death of Franco is extremely useful to understand the triumph of democracy in a country with little previous experience in liberty. A highly recommendable book for anybody interested in comtemporary Spanish history or forpolitical scientists interested in transitions from authoritarian rule todemocratic rule. ... Read more

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The main aim of this book is - from social sciences and, more concretely, from human geography - to answer the question: how are capital, governments and social movements organized in the processes of integration and resistance that affect "foreign immigrants" and other people in Barcelona and Lisbon? The text looks at the possibility of the chance to build international movements aiming to foster social life. Transnational migrations and the organization of immigrants may be relevant to reach such an objective. It asks what the orientation of social organizations and movements has been in relation to Spain and Portugal's "foreign immigration" during recent decades, and the processes in which they were involved; who participates in such organizations; who is funding these movements, and what alliances have taken place; how important have geographical, economic, political or social events been in such orientations; what their spatial locations have been; what their relationship has been with governments and what the governments role has been; the various ways that money is influential in social organizations; and how capitalists are organized in Iberia. ... Read more