Development of Party Systems after a Dictatorship: Voting Patterns and Ideological Shaping in Spain

Abstract

The Spanish party system after Francoism has been the subject of discussion of several academics and previous research. The purpose of this work is to approach this topic more deeply from a new perspective by paying attention to the shaping of ideology and voting patterns regionally and through time. This research has been structured into three main chapters. Firstly, a historical review of politics and key facts before the dictatorship has been carried out. Secondly, socioeconomic factors and voting patterns during the Second Republic have been analysed in detail. Thirdly, by focusing on insights acquired from previous chapters, several models of voting patterns and ideological shaping have been carried out from 1978 to 1994 at a national and regional level. The final conclusions show that (1) voting patterns and ideological identities after the dictatorship were still strongly influenced by lifelong social cleavages, (2) both voting patterns and ideological identities varied regionally, (3) preferences towards a democratic or authoritarian regimen did not affect voting and ideology after the dictatorship and (4) Francoism as a set of ideals still played an important role in defining voting patterns during the democratic era