Convergence and Union

• We have seen this in the case of referendums that were intended as mere ratification procedures.
• This was partly the case of the Spanish municipal and regional elections on 28 May.
• Almost a century ago, another call for local elections led to the fall of the Spanish Monarchy and the birth of the Second Republic.

The Republican 14 April

• Another one, the encasillado), saw designated ministers from the incoming government allocate seats to MPs in a bid to help them secure the comfortable majority required to govern.
• However, the system gradually deteriorated, reaching its worst point under the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923–1930).
• Deeply unpopular under the dictatorship, King Alfonso XIII sought to burnish his credentials by returning to the previous political system.
• In Madrid and Barcelona, the Republican opposition managed to respectively triple and quadruple the scores of monarchist candidates.
• That meant that local and provincial councils maintained their Francoist composition for more than three additional years after the dictator’s death.

A coin toss

• On 12 March 1986, prime minister Felipe González honoured his electoral pledge by calling a referendum on Spain’s membership of NATO.
• They were joined by some dissident leaders, the Socialist Youth and the (then still) sister union of the UGT.
• Although the “No” vote won in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Navarre and the Canary Islands, “Yes” triumphed overall with 56.85%.
• Regardless of who ends up losing out on 23 July, the fact is that such agonising approaches alienate citizen consensus and democratic quality.