Milli mála - 05.07.2016, Page 258
DIVERGENCIAS EN EL ENTENDIMIENTO DEL CONCEPTO DE DEMOCRACIA EN LA HISTORIOGRAFÍA
ESPAÑOLA
Milli mála 7/2015
265
ABSTRACT
Differences in the understanding of the concept
of democracy in Spanish historiography
The Constitution of 1931 introduced a political system based on free
elections, universal suffrage and a series of Declarations in line with
a general, European vision of democracy at that time. This demo-
cratic system became known as the Second Republic, or the Repub-
lic. It ended when Franco established his dictatorial regime following
his coup d’état and the civil war. After Franco’s death, Spain built up
a democratic state. Contemporary democracy has been interpreted
from the years of the Republic and throughout the 20th century
within the frameworks of a diversity of attitudes, aspirations, appre-
hensions and circumstances that have developed in Spanish society.
Understanding of a concept such as democracy depends on fac-
tors that include socio-political language as well as financial, cultural
and other circumstances at any given time. Hence, interpretations of
democracy have differed considerably in present and past times.
However, present-day historical literature, be it history books or his-
torical novels, do not seem to pay much attention to this fact. On the
contrary, it appears to treat the concept of democracy according to
the habitus (Bourdieu) of each writer. In doing so, the complexity of
history is to some extent simplified.
With the help of examples extracted from texts that deal with
Spain’s contemporary history, I attempt to show how the concept of
democracy gradually developed in Spain during the 20th century.
Keeping in mind the differences between ideological groups and
movements, I also discuss some historiographical aspects that have
been put forth by experts in the area. My main focus is on histori-
ography, i.e., the past as it is recounted and explained to youngsters
at school at a given point in time.
Keywords: democracy, understandings, historiographic perspectives