Forty Years from Fascism: Democratic Constitutionalism and the Spanish Model of National Transformation

Abstract

Just over four decades ago, Spain was a quasi-fascist state with an authoritarian government led by Generalissimo Francisco Franco. It was a rare holdout to the wave of democracy and constitutionalism that swept Europe and then much of the globe in the aftermath of World War II and the founding of the United Nations. With the death of Franco, Spain's future was uncertain. But within a few years, the newly reigning king and remnants of Franco's own power structure had facilitated an unlikely democratic transformation--the final democratic transition in Western Europe. This Article examines and evaluates core elements of the past promise and present reality of Spain's transformation from Francoist dictatorship to modern European democracy by investigating the role of the Constitution of 1978 and of the distinctive Spanish Model of constitutional transformation in facilitating Spain's transition to democracy.

The Spanish Model refers to a relatively peaceful transition from authoritarianism to constitutionalism through negotiated, consensus-based reforms without disruption of the existing legal framework through violence or revolution. The Model allowed Spain to minimize internal threats to the transition, solidify popular constitutional elements, and postpone contentious issues. The Model helped Spain identify and codify settled processes for dynamic resolution of conflicts. The result was a broadly democratic but uniquely Spanish Constitution in the modern European model. The 1978 Constitution provided viable solutions to Spain's pressing and recurring challenges: centrifugal tension between national and regional levels of government, the power of the military, the quasi-governmental power and role of the Catholic Church, and the structure of the economy.

For modern Spain, the question was whether the rule of law, democracy, the organization and distribution of authority, and the protection of individual rights could viably counter the errors of autocracy, authoritarianism, and fascism. This Article demonstrates that, despite recent, significant, and evolving challenges, constitutional democracy is strong in Spain and has been significantly aided by its constitutional text and the Spanish Model that inaugurated it.

Keywords: Spain, Constitutional Democracy, Transformative Constitutionalism, authoritatrianism, democratic transition, Spanish Constitution