Agenda Dynamics in Spain

Spanish politics has evolved from a consensual democracy with a focus on consolidating democratic rule to one where political parties increasingly polarize around ideologically rigid positions of Left and Right. No government seems able to resolve fundamental social conflicts relating to economic growth, relations with the regions, the EU, and the Church. Members of Parliament are regularly sidelined compared to the Prime Minister, even as the regional governments and the European Union increasingly make important policy decisions in a growing number policy domains. Tracing political history from the transition to democracy to the present, this engaging and highly empirical book provides a new look at Spanish politics, based on a policy agendas approach. Students, academics, and those interested in policy change and institutional design over the long term, will all find the book of interest.

Laura Chaqués Bonafont is Professor of Political Science at the University of Barcelona and Research Fellow at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). She is the director of the Spanish Policy Agendas Project (www.ub.edu/spanishpolicyagendas). Her main research interests are the analysis of agenda dynamics in comparative perspective, with special reference to the impact of the media, and interest groups.

Anna M. Palau is Assistant Professor at the Department of Constitutional Law and Political Science at the University of Barcelona and member of the Spanish Policy Agendas Project. Her research focuses on the analysis of policy dynamics, Europeanization, media and public opinion and government-opposition dynamics. Her work has been published in Comparative Political Studies, West European Politics, Journal of Public Policy, and Journal of Legislative Studies, among others.

Frank R. Baumgartner is the Richard J. Richardson Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. He is one of the founders and directors of the US Policy Agendas Project and has published such books as Agendas and Instability in American Politics, The Politics of Attention, and The Politics of Information, all with Bryan D. Jones.

List of Tables
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Glossary
PART I: THEORY AND METHODS
1. Policy dynamics in Democratic Spain
2. Data and methods
PART II: THE DYNAMICS OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS IN SPAIN
3. Broken promises
4. The government opposition game
5. Media and politics in Spain
PART III: POLICY ISSUES IN AN AGENDA-DYNAMICS APPROACH
6. Political decentralization
7. Europeanization
8. Framing the abortion debate
PART IV: CONCLUSIONS
9. Transformations in Spanish Politics, 1982-2013
References
Appendices
Index