According to the classification of government systems in the world, Spain has the form of parliamentary monarchy, since its legislative power (represented in the figure of the Cortes Generales), exercises most of the legislative and government responsibility. It is a parliamentary system because after the legislative elections which are held every four years, the monarch must make the proposal of the President of the Government to the Congress of Deputies (lower house of the Parliament) and if it approves, the elected one remains in the position while retaining the confidence of the deputies, otherwise you must resign.
The King of Spain, a country located in Europe according to SOFTWARELEVERAGE, who in turn acts as Head of State, can dissolve the Cortes if there is no uniform criterion of government, and then new elections are called.
The king
According to the Spanish constitution, the king constitutes an “inviolable” entity that, together with the functions of Head of State and commander of the armed forces, serves as a symbol of the unity of the entire Spanish nation under a single crown. Currently the reign of Spain is exercised by Felipe VI, who in 2014 succeeded his father Juan Carlos I, who had previously abdicated in his favor. The Spanish Constitution deals with the Institution of the Crown, the person of the King and his functions in Title II, which includes articles 56 to 65.
Executive power
The executive power, in this case the government of Spain is exercised through a Council of Ministers chaired by the President of the Government who has a position equal to that of a prime minister. Like some European monarchies such as the British, the Danish or the Swedish, it is the monarch who proposes to the legislative body the proposal for president of the government although generally the candidacy is always presented by the political party that wins the elections. At present, after the presidency of the government by the conservative Mariano Rajoy who acceded to the position after the victory of his party in the general elections of November 2011, it took place in 2018, by the left-wing bloc and specifically by the parties PSOE, Unidos Podemos, Esquerra Repúblicana, PEDC, PNV, Compromiso, Euskal Herria Bildu and Nueva Canarias, a Motion of Censorship, which expelled the government until then President Mariano Rajoy, being replaced by Pedro Sanchéz, Secretary General of the PSOE, the second largest political force.
Together with the president of the government, a team of ministers and executive officials are in charge of fulfilling the functions of government, such is the case of the ministries, there are currently 14 ministries in Spain.
Legislative power
Bicameral; Cortes Generales or the Cortes Generales (National Assembly), which are the supreme body of representation of the Spanish people, is made up of:
- Chamber of Senators or Senate (257 seats as of 2013; 208 members directly elected by popular vote and the other 49 – as of 2013 – appointed by regional legislatures and 265 seats as of 2014; 208 members directly elected by the popular vote and the other 57 – as of 2014 – appointed by regional legislatures; members to serve four-year terms)
- Congress of Deputies (350 seats; each of the 50 electoral provinces fills a minimum of two seats and the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla each fill one seat with members serving a four-year term, and the other 248 Members are determined by proportional representation based on popular vote on block lists that serve four-year terms)
Elections to the Senate of November 20, 2011 (next to be held in November 2015); PP 136, PSOE 48, CiU 9, Entesa (PSC-PSOE) 7, EAJ / PNV 4, 4 others, members appointed by regional legislatures 49
Elections to the Congress of Deputies: PP 44.6%, 28.8% from PSOE, CiU 4.2%, 6.9% IU, Amaiur 1.4%, UPyD 4.7%, EAJ / PNV 1, 3%, other 8.1%; seats per game – PP 186, PSOE 110, CiU 16, IU 11, Amaiur 7, UPyD 5, EAJ / PNV 5, others 10
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal, on closed lists (drawn up by party leaderships) and through proportional representation elected by provincial constituencies, to serve in four-year legislatures. The system is not absolutely proportional since there is a minimum number of seats per constituency and a slightly corrected proportional system is used to favor majority lists, known as the D’Hondt system, important political forces such as the United Left have denounced that this system favors to Parties with powerful electoral machines (PP and PSOE)
General elections of November 20, 2011:
- 10 866 566 (44.63%) – Popular Party 185 + Union of the Navarrese People 1
- 7 003 511 (28.76%) – PSOE 110 (including 14 from the Party of Socialists of Catalonia)
- 1 686 040 (6.92%) – United Left 8, Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds 2, Chunta Aragonesista 1
- 1 143 225 (4.7%) – Union Progress and Democracy 5
- 1 015 691 (4.17%) – Convergència i Unió 16
- 334 498 (1.37%) – Amaiur 7
- 324 317 (1.33%) – Basque Nationalist Party 5
- 256 393 (1.05%) – Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya -Catalunya Yes 3
- 216 748 (0.89%) – Equo + PSM-EN + IV + ExM 0
- 184 037 (0.75%) – Bloque Nacionalista Galego 2
- 143 881 (0.59%) – Canary Coalition – Nueva Canarias (CC-NC) + PIL + PNL 2
- 125 306 (0.51%) – Commitment Coalition 1
- 102 144 (0.42%) – Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Animal Abuse 0
- 99 473 (0.41%) – Citizens Forum 1
- 97 673 (0.40%) – Blank Seats 0
- 76 999 (0.32%) – Andalusian Party 0
- 59 949 (0.25%) – Plataforma per Catalunya 0
- 44 010 (0.18%) – Regionalist Party of Cantabria 0
- 42 415 (0.17%) – Geroa Bai 1
Not represented:
- 27 210 (0.11%) For a Fairer World (PUM + J)
- 26 254 (0.11%) Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)
- 22 289 (0.09%) Anticapitalist Left
- 21 876 (0.09%) Pirates de Catalunya (PIRATE CAT)
- 15 869 (0.07%) Communist Unification of Spain (UCE)
- 10 132 (0.04%) Humanist Party (PH)
- 9 266 (0.04%) Spain 2000
- 6 863 (0.03%) Solidaridad y Autogestión Internacionalista (SAIn)
- 5 430 (0.02%) Republicans (RPS)
- Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist) (PCE (ml))
- Citizens for the Republic
- Republican Association of Coslada (ARCO)
- Movement for the Unity of the People-Republicans (MUP-R)
- 3 820 (0.02%) Hartos.org
- 3 426 (0.01%) Pirate Party (PIRATE)
- 3 180 (0.01%) Canarian Nationalist Alternative (ANC)
- 2 898 (0.01%) Spanish Falange de las JONS (FE-JONS)
- 2 848 (0.01%) Liberal Democratic Center (CDL)
- 2 431 (0.01%) Spanish Party (PCAS)
- 2 210 (0.01%) Units x Valencia (UxV)
- 2,065 (0.01%) Individual Freedom Party (P-LIB)
- 2 058 (0.01%) Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL)
- 2 007 (0.01%) Internationalist Socialist Workers Party (POSI)
- 1 867 (0.01%) National Democracy (DN)
- 1 784 (0.01%) Regionalist Party for Eastern Andalusia (PRAO)
- 1 712 (0.01%) Mackerel Coalition
- 1 443 (0.01%) Converxencia XXI (C.XXI)
- 1 138 People’s Unit
- 1 090 Convergence by Extremadura (CEx)
- 1 087 Andecha Astur (AA)
- 1 074 Citizens of the Democratic Center (CCD)
- 966 Citizen Action for Malaga (ACIMA)
- 829 Family and Life Party (PFyV)
- 791 Death to the system (+ PLUS +)
- 785 Union of Independent Citizens of Toledo (UCIT)
- 778 Give the Change (DeC)
- 720 Center and Democracy Forum (CYD)
- 709 Regionalist Unit of Castilla y León
- 678 Party for the Regeneration of the Democracy in Spain (PRDE)
- 603 Interntet Party (INTERNET)
- 419 Partit Republicà d’Esquerra-Republicans (PRE-R)
- 380 Enough
- 304 Democratic and Constitutional Party (PDYC)
- 293 The Greens-Green Group (LV-GV)
- 206 Democratic Hygiene (HD)
- 169 Socialists for Teruel (SxT)
Others:
- We can
- Citizens-Citizenship Party (C’s)