Even when an inter-party consensus on reforms exists, implementation is not secure. In August 2016, the speakers of Ciudadanos and PP in Parliament signed an agreement titled, “Anti-corruption pact. Measures for democratic regeneration and against corruption”. The document had been the precondition for Ciudadanos’ votes in the investiture of Mariano Rajoy. Both parties agreed to end legal immunity for politicians and public servants, eliminate the legal figure of government pardon, limit the PM’s time in office to two terms, oblige politicians to step down once they face formal corruption allegations, and draft a new electoral law (aimed at increasing proportionality and introducing an open-list-system). Despite the negotiations originally being limited to three months, a year down the line no substantial progress in either of the areas has been made. Whether the constitution must be changed to implement these policies – as the government party claims – or the regular legal proceedings are sufficient is the major contentious issue.
5. CONCLUSION
In the Spanish political class, as well as in academia and the public, a widespread consensus exists that amidst the fiercest economic crisis since democracy was restored in 1978, changes must be made in the nation’s institutional setting. On the one hand, the popularity of the term “Second Transition” in current-day debates indicates nostalgia for a past when politicians – regardless of their ideological camp – could agree on bold policy measures. For some, this part of the history should serve as an example to the political class in their striving to overcome current woes. On the other hand, “Second Transition” is interpreted by those who – thanks to the economic crisis – now manage to play a part in Spanish politics as chiffre for the disruptive political program that Spain (allegedly) did not experience in the late 1970s. In this view, the entire foundation for democracy in Spain must be reset. Both camps face the pressure of public opinion. Citizen’s contempt for politics stands at an all-time high.
It is thus surprising that besides a rather timid reform of the party law, no major institutional reform project has been implemented – this, despite public demand and assurance by the parties themselves. In this paper, I have suggested that a possible explanation may be the unchanged structure of party competition for government during the years of economic crisis. In this scenario, the current government (and the first opposition party) may rate the benefits of closed competition higher than adopting reforms that ultimately could open the contest for government in the future.
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DIVIDED, FRUSTRATED, ENRAGED? CHANGES IN GERMAN POLITICAL CULTURE
Tom Mannewitz
1. INTRODUCTION
In the early 21st century two crises appear to dominate the political agenda of the European Union: the “Euro crisis”, unleashed by a global economic and financial crisis and embracing no less than four dimensions: a monetary crisis, a sovereign debt crisis, a bank crisis and an economic crisis. The second challenge facing the EU at the beginning of the 21st century is the refugee – more neutral: – the migrant crisis, caused by the political, economic, and social instability of the Middle East, esp. the Maghreb and the Levante countries. The member states of the EU are affected by these crises to markedly different degrees: Whereas the Euro crisis has primarily affected the “PIGS states” in the south with leaping unemployment rates between eleven (Italy) and 24 percent (Spain), it was particularly Sweden and Germany which have been afflicted by flows of several million asylum seekers. At its peak time in 2015, for example, this crisis has led to no less than 1 million registered refugees in the Federal Republic.
Two crises, two European regions, one perspective: Here and there journalists, publicists, and scientists tend to frame the recent challenges in terms of economic, social and IR (international relations) questions (Betts & Collier, 2017; Bookstaber, 2017; Jones, 2016; Kingsley, 2017; Stiglitz, 2016). Even political science has put the genuinely domestic political facets of the crises in a second place (Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2017; Grimmel & Giang, 2017; Zaun, 2017). However, it is particularly the political dimension which might affect liberal democracy and free society, even if one lets aside the challenges posed by international terrorism. Anti-elitist prejudices and xenophobic resentments, annoyance over Brussels and the general disenchantment with representative democracy are overtly exploited by populist movements and parties of various