Democratic stabilizing strategies: Public and private sector elites in Spanish regime politics.

Abstract

The dissertation examines the neglected role of regional elites in the process of democratic consolidation in Spain. Spain represents a case (or cases) of the successful consolidation of democracy, despite serious impediments that some of the literature predicts will lead to a failure of consolidation or breakdown of the democratic regime-type. Some of those impediments are significant inter-regional variation in demographic characteristics of the population (language, ethnicity, cultural and history), widely differing leadership styles of regional elites and intra-regional pressures to opt out of the democratic system (the "exit" option). Three regions in Spain-Galicia, Andalusia, and Catalonia---will be examined to test the hypothesis that variations in the strategies and behaviors of regional elites affect the level and quality of democratic institutions and political stability, and thus, democratic consolidation at the regional level. In a final chapter, the implications of the Spanish model will be examined.