Spain Case

Spain

    Spain is a country located in the southwestern part of Europe. Spain had a fascinating and charming history that affected the world in all aspects and fields. Many of the modern ideas, thoughts and even governments are shaped and molded by the Spanish. Spain had a magnificent history that was different from all other territories at that time. It is a country that was taken over by many civilizations including the Romans, Carthaginians and the Arabs who established a great civilization there. Then the Catholic Monarchs took it over, unified and expanded its borders. The Spanish Empire included Philippines, Americas, Portugal, Netherland, Italy and even Germany. Consequently, corruption spread in most of the areas in the Spanish Empire. Spain experienced decadence, civil wars and invasions too. Accordingly, Spain couldn’t keep all the territories under its power. Losses and collapses of the Spanish territories started in the 19th century. Territories that took independence from the Spanish were the Americas, Philippines, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. As a result of all these condensed historical events, one can conclude that the timeline of Spanish history fashioned Spain now and pre-casted its modern government too.

   After the death of the Spanish dictator Franco in 1975 who was characterized by brutality, violence and viciousness and who took over as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Spain established a constitution on October 31, 1978. This drastic transformation from dictatorship to democratic government was one of the greatest and utmost conversions in the world of politics.

   Spain is a constitutional monarchy administered and directed by the constitution that was established in 1978. The monarchy in Spain is hereditary where the son takes the position after his father. The monarch is the head of state. He is responsible of authorizing rules, changing policies, suggesting names of prime ministers and giving orders, instructions and commands to all the army.

   Just below the monarch, the prime minister or the president rules who will be chosen later by the legislature after the monarch’s suggestions.  The prime minister is called the head of government. Spain has two-houses of legislature, the Cortes or National Assembly and the Congress of Deputies. The seats of the Cortes consist of 350 members. Congress of Deputies is elected by Spanish people through voting. Out of the 259 members of the congress, the voters choose 208 senators by electing them directly, as for the other 51, they are allotted by regional legislatures. All members of Legislature whether the legislators of Cortes or those of the Congress of Deputies serve for only four years.