Cánovas’ System: 1876 Constitution & Bipartisanship
The Theoretical Framework of the Restoration: Cánovas’ System and the 1876 Constitution
The theoretical framework of the Spanish Restoration, also known as the Cánovas’ system, is based on the 1876 Constitution. This constitution was intentionally written with broad terms to be accepted by all monarchists: conservatives, liberals, unionists, and others. It reflects Cánovas’ core principles, with other ideological issues negotiated by all parties, resulting in a flexible and, at times, ambiguous wording. This calculated ambiguity in certain articles allowed each government to adapt the formula to its own ideology.
Key Aspects of the 1876 Constitution
- Shared Sovereignty: Sovereignty was shared between the King and the Parliament, contrasting with the national sovereignty advocated during the revolutionary six-year period.
- Broad Royal Powers: The King was inviolable, held the right of veto, enacted laws, and could dissolve Parliament. The Crown was a central institution of the state.
- Bicameral Courts: The courts were organized into two chambers: the Congress and the Senate.
- Religious Tolerance: The state was confessionally Catholic, but privately acknowledged freedom of worship.
Bipartisanship and the *Turnismo* System
To implement Cánovas’ system, Spanish politics relied on bipartisanship, with two major parties peacefully alternating in power.
The Two Major Parties
- Conservative Party: Led by Cánovas del Castillo, it was supported by the upper classes.
- Liberal Party: Led by Sagasta, it was supported by the liberal bourgeoisie and urban middle classes.
Both parties represented a broad social base and a range of ideologies. They designed the agreed-upon shift system (*turnismo*), which ensured the regime’s stability. This shift became operational after Sagasta’s request to Alfonso XII in 1881 and was crucial for political stability, especially after Alfonso XII’s death in 1885 without a male heir. However, this system excluded extreme ideologies, such as Carlists and Republicans, as well as emerging labor movement organizations (socialists and anarchists).
The Mechanics of *Turnismo*
The peaceful alternation of power between liberals and conservatives ensured the continuity of the Restoration without violence. Theoretically, a change in power should have been governed by election results, and a party could not govern without a majority in the chamber. However, the reality of *turnismo* was different. The parties periodically transferred power by mutual agreement, not as a result of a change in the electorate’s opinion.
This system engendered voter fraud. As Benito Pérez Galdós might have noted, the elections were rigged so that the party entering the new government, as designated by the King, always achieved a majority. Elections were consistently won because they were organized from Madrid by the Ministry of the Interior, with the collaboration of civil governors, mayors, and local bosses (*caciques*).
Electoral Fraud Procedure
The procedure was as follows:
- The Minister of the Interior created the *encasillado*, deciding which members would be elected from each district.
- The civil governor of the province, in agreement with the district *caciques*, manipulated the municipal elections.
- If these measures were insufficient, they resorted to *pucherazo*, meaning votes of deceased individuals appeared, and if necessary, missing votes were added to ensure the victory of the officially nominated candidate.