Restoration Politics and Electoral Control

📋 Course Outline

1. Dynastic parties of the Restoration: Conservative and Liberal
2. General characteristics and social bases of Conservative and Liberal parties
3. Peaceful rotation system (torn pacífic) under the monarchy
4. Constitution of 1876: shared sovereignty and political framework
5. Bicameral Cortes and evolution of electoral system
6. Religious status and constitutional flexibility in the Restoration system
7. Electoral fraud mechanisms: encasillado and tupinada
8. Caciquism and elite control over rural voting and political power

📖 1. Dynastic parties of the Restoration: Conservative and Liberal

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Partit Liberal: A political party composed of progressives and democrats whose social base included the middle classes and professionals, advocating for reforms, universal male suffrage, and greater freedoms.
• Partits dinàstics: Cánovas i Sagasta Durant la Restauració es crea un sistema polític basat en dos grans partits dinàstics, que donen suport a la monarquia d’Alfons XII.

📝 Essential Points

• The Conservative Party was led by Cánovas del Castillo and composed of moderates and unionists.
• The Conservative Party's social base included landowners, high bourgeoisie, and the Church, advocating for order, a Catholic state, and protectionism.

💡 Key Takeaway