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1914 Spanish general election
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A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 8 March (for the Congress of Deputies)[a] and on Sunday, 22 March 1914 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 15th Restoration Cortes. All 408 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.
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While the election saw the Conservative bloc winning a majority of seats in both chambers, internal infighting between the factions led by Eduardo Dato, Antonio Maura and Juan de la Cierva resulted in an unstable government.
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Background
The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a semi-constitutional monarchy, awarding the monarch the right of legislative initiative together with the bicameral Cortes; the capacity to veto laws passed by the legislative body; the power to appoint senators and government ministers; as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the army and navy. The monarch would play a key role in the system of el turno pacífico (English: the Peaceful Turn) by appointing and dismissing governments and allowing the opposition to take power. Under this informal system, the two major political parties at the time, the Conservatives and the Liberals—characterized as elite parties with loose structures dominated by internal factions, each led by powerful individuals—alternated in power by means of election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, assignating the seats in the general elections before they were held by using the links between the Ministry of Governance, the provincial civil governors and the local bosses (caciques) to ensure victory and exclude minor parties from the power sharing.[2][3] The result was "a liberal system without democracy".[4]
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Overview
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Electoral system
The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system.[5] Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate had legislative, control and budgetary functions, sharing equal powers except for laws on contributions or public credit, where the Congress had preeminence, and judicial matters, where preeminence was vested in the Senate.[6][7] Voting for each chamber of the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage and censitary suffrage, respectively:
- For the Congress, it comprised all national males over 25 years of age, having at least a two-year residency in a municipality and in full enjoyment of their civil rights. Voting was compulsory, though those older than 70, the clergy, first instance judges and public notaries (the latter two categories, within their respective area of jurisdiction) were exempt from this obligation.[8][9][10]
- Electors were required to not being in active military service; nor being sentenced—by a final court's decision—to perpetual disqualification from political rights or public offices, to afflictive penalties not legally rehabilitated at least two years in advance, nor to other criminal penalties that remained unserved at the time of the election; neither being legally incapacitated, bankrupt, insolvent, debtors of public funds, nor homeless.[8]
- For the Senate, it comprised archbishops and bishops (in the ecclesiastical councils); full academics (in the royal academies); rectors, full professors, enrolled doctors, directors of secondary education institutes and heads of special schools in their respective territories (in the universities); the members of the economic societies of Friends of the Country with at least a three-year-old membership; provincial deputies; major taxpayers and Spanish citizens of age, being householders living in a town of the country and in full enjoyment of their political and civil rights (in the local councils).[11]
The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants. 98 seats were distributed among 28 multi-member constituencies and elected using a partial block voting system: in constituencies electing ten seats or more, electors could vote for no more than four candidates less than the number of seats to be allocated; in those with more than eight seats and up to ten, for no more than three less; in those with more than four seats and up to eight, for no more than two less; and in those with more than one seat and up to four, for no more than one less. The remaining seats—310 for the 1914 election—were allocated to single-member districts and elected using plurality voting. Additionally, in those districts where the number of candidates was equal or less than the number of seats up for election, candidates were to be automatically elected.[12][13]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:[14][15]
For the Senate, 180 seats were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting system.[16] State corporations, local councils and major taxpayers elected delegates—equivalent in number to one per each 50 members (in each economic society) or to one-sixth of the councillors (in each local council)—who would in turn vote for senators.[17] The provinces of Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia were allocated four seats each, whereas each of the remaining provinces was allocated three seats, for a total of 150.[18][19] The remaining 30 were allocated to special districts comprising a number of institutions, electing one seat each—the archdioceses of Burgos, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tarragona, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; the six oldest royal academies (the Royal Spanish; History; Fine Arts of San Fernando; Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences; Moral and Political Sciences and Medicine); the universities of Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; and the economic societies of Friends of the Country from Madrid, Barcelona, León, Seville and Valencia.[20]
An additional 180 seats comprised senators in their own right—the monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once coming of age; grandees of Spain with an annual income of at least 60,000 Pt (from their own real estate or from rights that enjoy the same legal consideration); captain generals of the Army and admirals of the Navy; the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops; and the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life appointed directly by the monarch.[21]
The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislature's term.[22][23]
Election date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes—the Congress and one-half of the elective part of the Senate—expired five years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The previous Congress and Senate elections were held on 8 May and 22 May 1910, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 8 May and 22 May 1915, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[24][25] There was no constitutional requirement for concurrent elections to the Congress and the Senate, nor for the elective part of the Senate to be renewed in its entirety except in the case that a full dissolution was agreed by the monarch. Still, there was only one case of a separate election (for the Senate in 1877) and no half-Senate elections taking place under the 1876 Constitution.
The Cortes were officially dissolved on 2 January and 13 February 1914, with the Senate dissolution decree setting the election dates for 8 March (for the Congress) and 22 March 1914 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 2 April.[26][27]
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Candidates
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For the Congress, Spanish citizens of age, of secular status, in full enjoyment of their civil rights and with the legal capacity to vote could run for election, provided that they were not contractors of public works or services, within the territorial scope of their contracts; nor holders of government-appointed offices, the judiciary, the prosecution ministry and presidents or members of provincial deputations—during their tenure of office and up to one year after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction, except for government ministers and civil servants in the Central Administration.[28][29] A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these:[30][31]
- Civil, military and judicial positions with a permanent residence in Madrid and a yearly public salary of at least 12,500 Pt;
- The holders of a number of positions: the president, prosecutors and chamber presidents of the territorial court of Madrid; the rector and full professors of the Central University of Madrid; inspectors of engineers; and general officers of the Army and Navy based in Madrid.
Additionally, candidates intending to run were required to either have previously served as deputies, elected in a general or by-election; to secure the endorsement of two current or former senators or deputies from the same provinces, or from three current or former provincial deputies representing a territory that, in whole or in part, was included in the constituencies for which they sought election; or to secure the endorsement of at least one twentieth of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election.[32]
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to those entitled to be appointed as senators in their own right or those who belonged or had belonged to one of the following categories:[33][34]
- Those who had ever served as senators before the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution; and deputies having served in at least three different congresses or eight terms;
- The holders of a number of positions: presidents of the Senate and the Congress; government ministers; bishops; grandees of Spain not eligible as senators in their own right; and presidents and directors of the royal academies;
- Provided an annual income of at least 7,500 Pt from either their own property, salaries from jobs that cannot be lost except for legally proven cause, or from retirement, withdrawal or termination: full academics of the aforementioned corporations on the first half of the seniority scale in their corps; first-class inspectors general of the corps of civil, mining and forest engineers; and full professors with at least four years of seniority in their category and practice;
- Provided two prior years of service: Army's lieutenant generals and Navy's vice admirals; and other members and prosecutors of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, and the dean of the Court of Military Orders;
- Ambassadors after two years of service and plenipotentiaries after four;
- Those with an annual income of 20,000 Pt or were taxpayers with a minimum quota of 4,000 Pt in direct contributions at least two years in advance, as long as they were of the Spanish nobility, had been previously deputies, provincial deputies or mayors in provincial capitals or towns over 20,000 inhabitants.
Other causes of ineligibility for the Senate were imposed on territorial-level officers in government bodies and institutions—during their tenure of office and up to three months after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction; contractors of public works or services; tax collectors and their guarantors; debtors of the State; deputies; local councillors (except those in Madrid); and provincial deputies for their respective provinces.[35]
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Results
Congress of Deputies
Senate
Distribution by group
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See also
Notes
References
Bibliography
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