Contemporary Spanish Politics, 2nd ed.

Thoroughly examining Spain’s historical background, political culture, core political institutions and foreign policy making, each chapter provides a research-based overview of the studied topic which can then be used as the basis for further research by students.

Key themes of the book include:

+recent history of Spain after Franco's death
+Spain’s political culture, institutional framework and political economy
+foreign policy making; the reaction to the global anti-terrorist coalition and the Madrid bombings
+policy making process and the system of interest intermediation
+party system and electoral process
+the dynamics of regional/territorial politics and the Basque problem
+external relations with the European Union, the Mediterranean and Latin America
+constitutional reform
+immigration

Table of contents:

1. The Transformation of Spanish Politics: A Review of the Historical Legacy
2. The Main Features of Contemporary Political Culture
3. The Core Spanish Institutions
4. Political Parties and Elections
5. The Dynamics of Regional Politics
5.1 The Process of regionalisation since 1978
6. Media and Politics
7. Interest Groups and Spanish Civil Society
8. A Semiperipheral Economy
9. The Policy Making Process: The Impact of the European Union
10. Spanish Foreign Policy within the European Union
11. The Quality of Democracy in Spain: Some Concluding Remarks