Mirror‐images: The PCE and PSOE in the transition to democracy in Spain

Abstract

The collapse of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) in the years following General Franco's death has often been attributed to the rigidity of its democratic centralism, particularly as contrasted to the moderation of the Socialist Party (PSOE). This article argues that democratic centralism in itself was of less importance than how it was used. By contrasting the fortunes of the PCE and PSOE, which emerged from the political wilderness of the Franco years to win the 1982 and 1986 elections, it is shown that the PSOE leadership was able to impose a form of democratic centralism much more effectively than the PCE. The PSOE triumphed over the PCE by responding more effectively to the changes in Spain's social structure consequent upon the economic growth of the 1960s and 1970s.