Spain – Politics
Spain was established as a social and democratic state, respecting the rule of law and advocating higher goals: establishment of the legal order, protecting freedom, justice, equality on all base and pluralism in politics. The people of Spain have their national sovereignty – from it are derived the powers of the state as such. Parliamentary monarchy is the political form of the Spanish state. The King is the symbol of the unity and perseverance of its country. As such he supervises the everyday functioning of the institutions. In the present paper, I will investigate the political system of Spain, its benefits, and flaws, as well as the future challenges posed in front of the country.
Three main authorities
The three main authorities, exercising their powers in the Spanish state are: legislative, executive and judicial. The Spanish Parliament, called General Cortes, speaking on behalf of the Spanish people, exercises state legislative power, approves budgets, monitors the actions of a government, and has other general powers and jurisdictions (Rogerdarlington.me.uk, 2017).
The government is in charge of internal and external policy, civilian and military administration and state defense. It exercises the executive and mandatory power under the Constitution and the law. The government is headed by a prime minister who was appointed by the king after being nominated by the Congress of MEPs. He directs the actions of the government and coordinates the functions of the other members of the Cabinet, without prejudice to the powers and direct responsibility of the latter in the performance of their duties (Rogerdarlington.me.uk, 2017).
Justice comes from the people and is ruled on behalf of the King by judges and magistrates of the judiciary. They are independent, irremovable, and responsible before the law. The application of the judiciary is at the sole discretion and is an exclusive prerogative of the courts and tribunals designated by the law, according to the rules of jurisdiction and the procedure defined therein.
Political system of Spain
Spain’s political system is a multi-party system, but since 1990, two parties have been the predominant in politics – the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and the People’s Party (PP). The regional players, mainly the Basque (EAJ-Palestinian Population) of the Basque Country and the Convergence and Alliance (CIP) and the Catalonia Socialist Party of Catalonia (CPS), also play a key role in Spanish politics (Rogerdarlington.me.uk, 2017).
Members of the Congress of Deputies are elected by proportional representation, and a government is formed by a party or coalition that has the confidence of Congress, usually the party with the largest number of seats. After Spain’s transition to democracy in the country, there was no regular coalition government. However, in the event that one of the parties does not receive an absolute majority, minority governments are formed (Rogerdarlington.me.uk, 2017).
Regional governments operate according to a system known as a state of autonomy, a highly decentralized system of government based on the asymmetric decentralization of the “nationalities and regions” that represent the nation, and in which the nation retains full sovereignty through the central government.
By exercising the right of self-government conferred by the Constitution, “nationalities and regions” are constituted as 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities. The form of government of each autonomous region and autonomous city is also based on the parliamentary system in which the executive is entrusted to the “president” and the Council of Ministers, elected by and responsible to a unicameral legislative body.
Powers of the King
Under the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the King has more power than the other European constitutional monarchs. He is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Spain and has some rights to influence the political life of the country. Upon joining the throne, he announced a course to build a democratic society in Spain and promised to be “the king of all the Spaniards”. On February 23, 1981, the king of Spain personally prevented an attempted coup d’etat by the Franks (Rogerdarlington.me.uk, 2017).
According to Article 56 (1) of the Constitution of Spain, the King is the head of state, a symbol of its unity and stability, an arbiter and moderator of the functioning of the institutions, assumes the highest representation of the Spanish State in international relations, and with the nations of its historical community and exercising the functions explicitly prescribed by the Constitution and laws.
Article 2 says that his title is the king of Spain, and can use those titles that match the crown. The king’s personality is inviolable and not accountable. Its acts will always be certified in the form set out in Article 64 and will be void in the absence of such certification, with the exception of Article 65 (2).
If the King cannot fulfill his powers and this impossibility is recognized by General Cortes, the Prince’s successor, if he is of full age, will immediately accept the Regency. If not, the provisions of the preceding article will be followed until the Prince reaches the age of majority (Rogerdarlington.me.uk, 2017).
Judiciary system
The General Council of the Judiciary is a constitutional body, consisting of 20 members and a chairman, who is at the same time a chairman of the Supreme Court. The members of the council are appointed on a proposal from Congress and the Senate.
Twelve of them are judges and magistrates from different levels in the hierarchy, and the other eight are lawyers who have more than 15 years of professional practice. The members of the board are appointed for a term of 5 years and cannot be re-elected except for the chairperson.
Although this is the governing body of the judiciary, the General Council of the Judiciary is not part of the system of the courts, and its functions are primarily administrative or administrative. He elects judges and magistrates, provides their training, imposes disciplinary sanctions, takes decisions to raise, lower and remove from office. In addition, the Council performs functions related to the internal organization of courts, inspections and statistical information, and is required to inform the government of any law relating to the organization of the judiciary, procedural rules concerning fundamental human rights or provisions in the area of criminal law and the places of imprisonment (Rogerdarlington.me.uk, 2017).
In certain cases, the General Council of the Judiciary may delegate its powers to the so- Chambers of Commerce. Such management chambers are in the Supreme Court, the National Court and all higher courts. Last but not least, there are councils of judges and senior judges in each county that have organizational functions in the county.
Courts in Spain are divided into five different jurisdictions – civil, criminal, administrative, labor and military. Each of these jurisdictions has its own organizational structure. The first level is the Peace Courts. There is a miraculous court in every municipality where there is no court of inquiry. Peace tribunals deal with cases of minor offenses that are not particularly important.
