Why is the Spanish Second Chamber so hard to reform?

Cole, Alistair ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9222-0523, Harguindeguy, Jean Baptiste and Coller, Xavier 2017. Why is the Spanish Second Chamber so hard to reform? Parliamentary Affairs 70 (3) , pp. 530-547.

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Abstract

As in other countries, the Spanish upper chamber is facing harsh criticisms. It has failed to fulfil its constitutional task as a chamber of territorial representation. Notwithstanding a number of proposed reforms, the Senado has remained almost unchanged since its creation in 1978. So why is it so difficult to restructure this chamber? This research aims to explain the impasse of the reform of the Senate through evaluating three approaches. After stressing the qualities and defects of the legal inheritance and party bargaining frameworks, this paper argues that the joint-decision trap perspective can help to understand the two-fold dynamic of institutional obstruction and incremental change that has affected the Spanish Senate for the last 20 years.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Department of Politics and International Relations (POLIR)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) K Law > K Law (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Federalism, Reform, Senate, Spain, Upper Chamber
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0031-2290
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	22 November 2016
Date of Acceptance:	21 November 2016
Last Modified:	15 Nov 2024 03:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/96356

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