Tools of Government in the Spanish Transition to Democracy

Abstract

The Spanish transitional governments deeply transformed their mix of control tools to face the new challenges that the military posed and to enhance professionalism in the ranks. The role and attitude of the military in the Spanish transition and early stages of democracy was completely different than that of Portugal’s. While in Portugal the military defined and controlled the political transformations, in Spain the military was excluded from the most important political decisions. Whereas in Portugal, the left-wing military dominated the ranks, in Spain extreme right-wing officers were the most influential. While in Portugal the military pushed for thorough reforms, in Spain the military wanted to keep an authoritarian regime and resisted most changes that the governments launched. These different circumstances had a strong impact on the choice of control tools, in particular during the period of the UCD governments (1976–82). Suárez enjoyed great legitimacy only in the eyes of civil society, not the military. Afraid that some control tools could generate more discontent in the military, he adopted a somewhat laissez-faire approach to the military’s subordination. This strategy was proven inadequate by the military’s growing disloyalty and various anti-government plots. The first PSOE government (1982–6) undertook many changes in its control strategy in order to consolidate the military’s subordination.