Renovation And Continuity Of The Spanish Political Elite During The Transition To Democracy: The Case Of The Constituent Cortes (1977-1979)

Abstract

The end of Francoism and the transition to democracy in Spain had much of continuity of certain power elites and, at the same time, generational and ideological renovation of the ruling class. An example of this mixture were the Cortes elected in 1977, where personages that only a few weeks before were exiled, imprisoned or in clandestineness sat together with ex Franco’s ministers and leaders of the dictatorship. The main task this first democratic Parliament undertook, the Constitution, can not be explained without understanding the diversity of its two Houses –Congress and Senate–, exact representation of the new regime that was about to be born. This article aims to analyse the sociological and ideological elements which coincided in the formation of the parliamentary elite of the constituent period, as a basis for better value the transformation process of the legal-political order that happened in those years.

Fecha de envío / Submission Date: 19/12/2013
Fecha de aceptación / Acceptance Date: 2/02/2014