Alicia Gil-Torres, a journalism professor from the University of Valladolid in Spain, spoke with students and faculty on Nov. 2 about how Spain survived without a government for 317 days. The presentation, sponsored by the Center for Civic Engagement and the European Studies department, was focused on the question, “How can a democratic country function without a government?”
Speaking to Spain’s 317 day streak of no official leader, Gil-Torres says even with the newly elected officials she has “no idea what will happen.” The Spanish intuition has declined, she says because, “we are so tired and so sad because we have no government.”
Gil-Torres has a background in political marketing and grassroots tactics. She applies these skills to a Spanish electoral context. She has recently been a part of a research group that studies online campaign strategies within the Spanish political parties of 2015-2016.
Gil-Torres was recently at Hofstra to be a part of the Day of Dialogue, and found another opportunity to come back and share more of her expertise. The event was timely, as Spain had officially held elections for their government over the weekend prior to her presentation.
Gil-Torres explained that Spain has a population of around 47 million individuals. Spain is a democracy organized in the form of a parliamentary government under a constitutional monarchy. According to Gil-Torres, there had recently been “annoyance with the two big political parties due to corruption, taxes, salary reduction and social cutbacks.”
Dan Hanson, a junior public relations major, said, “It was really interesting to see the struct
ure of Spain’s political system. You don’t really think about it, but there are so many components that go unnoticed.”
After the elections, Spain ended up with the same president from before. Gil-Torres predicted that this will mean “four more years of old politics.”
In comparing the U.S. and Spain, Gil-Torres explained that Clinton represents “establishment” and Trump represents “new, radical ideas,” but neither are necessarily fit to be in power. This is true for Spain as well, PSOE and PP are respectively the old left and right parties, and Podemos and Cuidadanos are the new left and right parties. None of the candidates were particularly fit to rule and as a result, the vote was very divided.
In discussing her takeaway from the event, Professor Carolyn Dudek said, “Professor Gil-Torres not only explained the political challenges in Spain, but also made some interesting comparisons to the U.S. election and party system. She demonstrated stark differences such as the length of campaigns being shorter – only 15 days – and thus less costly. Also, Spain does not have a primary system and candidates are chosen by the party elites.”
Lara Van Patten, a sophomore global studies and political science major, explained that she was happy she came to the event. “I only came here for my class, but I really feel like I learned a lot more about the politics of Spain.”
So what must Spain do now? Gil-Torres’ opinion is that Spain must say goodbye to bipartisanship, absolutist majority, to the inability to negotiate and the ignorance of citizenship.
In relation to democracy, Gil-Torres said, “We are facing a new era, not only in Spain, but in the world. It could even happen here.”
