Political system of Spain

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spain is a hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary - democratic system of government .

Principles

According to the constitution of the Kingdom of Spain , Spain is a social and democratic constitutional state . The state is based on the principles of freedom , justice , equality and political pluralism . The state power comes from the Spanish people out. It is the bearer of national sovereignty . The form of government is the parliamentary monarchy. In addition, Article 2 of the Constitution guarantees both the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation" and the "right of nationalities and regions to autonomy".

System of government at the national level

legislative branch

Parliament has the legislative function . It is called Cortes Generales and is divided into two chambers. The House of Representatives ( Congreso de los Diputados ) has a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 400 seats. The deputies are elected by general, free, equal, direct and secret ballot. The Senate ( Senado ) is the chamber of territorial representation. The Senate has about 250 members. Most are elected by the people. About 50 senators are appointed by the autonomous communities of Spain . In addition to legislating , the tasks of parliament are also the approval of the state budget and the control of the government.

A person can only belong to one chamber. All Spanish citizens of age who are in full possession of their political rights are entitled to vote .

executive

Head of state

The head of state is the king , currently Felipe VI. The king is also the commander in chief of the armed forces . The king has only representative functions; his role is comparable to that of the German Federal President . He confirms laws and is responsible for appointing and dismissing the head of government.

Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez since June 2, 2018 , has, similar to the German Chancellor, the authority to issue guidelines for the central government . The Prime Minister is elected by the House of Representatives and appointed by the King. He can dissolve the Cortes Generales and arrange early elections.

Judiciary

The Constitutional Court , Tribunal Constitucional de España , has jurisdiction in constitutional cases.

For all other cases, the Supreme Court , Tribunal Supremo , presides over a structure with specialized courts at regional, provincial and local level. The administration of the judiciary (with the exception of the constitutional court) is incumbent on the General Council of the Judiciary .

Autonomous Communities

Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities . These have extensive legislative and executive powers and their own parliaments and governments. In terms of their level of expertise, they are now comparable to the German federal states. Spain is therefore now considered to be one of the most decentralized countries in Europe.

However, Spain is not a federal state because the Autonomous Communities are regional authorities endowed with extensive powers , but do not have any statehood. This shows u. a. the fact that they cannot adopt or change their statutes of autonomy (which have the function of a "national constitution"), but require the consent of the Spanish parliament. The autonomous communities are therefore not constitutionally autonomous.

This state model is often referred to as the state of autonomies ( Estado autonómico ).

Local authorities

Local authorities guaranteed by the constitution are the municipalities and provinces. The two autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla , which do not belong to any province or autonomous community, have a special statute.

Seven autonomous communities consist of only one province ( Asturias , Cantabria , Navarra , La Rioja , Madrid , Murcia , Balearic Islands ). In these regions, the tasks that are otherwise carried out by the provinces have been transferred to the autonomous communities.

There are further levels of local self-government in various Autonomous Communities.

See also

literature

  • Walther L. Bernecker: Spain manual: past and present . Tübingen 2006, ISBN 978-3-8252-2827-9 .
  • José Porras Ramírez: The area of ​​government in the Spanish constitutional order . In: Yearbook of Public Law of the Present . New series / Vol. 50, 2002, pp. 389-413.
  • Fernando Santaolalla: Legislation in the Spanish Political System . In: Wolfgang Ismayr (Ed.): Legislation in Western Europe. EU countries and the European Union . Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2008, 513–557.

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Constitution of the Kingdom of Spain , Title III.
  2. ↑ Article 68 (1) of the Constitution
  3. ↑ Article 68 (5) of the Constitution
  4. ↑ Article 62 of the Constitution
  5. ↑ Article 62 (b) of the Constitution ; see also Art. 99 (5)
  6. ↑ see Title IX (= Art. 159 to 165) of the Constitution of Spain.