Spanish elections 1931

Recommended Citation: Sánchez-Castillo, S., Galán-Cubillo, E. & Gifreu-Castells, A. (2020). Audiovisual Representation in Spanish and European Election Debates. Tripodos. Communication Flows in the European Elections: Amid Populism and Euroscepticism. No. 49, pp. 89-108. ISSN paper: 1138-3305. ISSN electronic: 2340-5007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.51698/tripodos.2020.49p89-108

-----  ABSTRACT: The presence of ever more conflicting stances between Europhiles and Eurosceptics has revealed some audiovisual discourses unknown until now. The fragmentation of inconclusive narrative discourse and staged situations with a clear intent to clash all make it necessary to analyse in detail the role given by the audiovisual media to the European process of democratisation. This study addresses the audiovisual discourse in Spanish public television (TVE) with the intention of discovering how the different topics addressed in debates are dealt with in audiovisual production, and whether those topics have benefited from certain decisions by the production team that are subjective a priori. Using external codifiers, the intensity of each question has been checked and the result has been correlated with the dependent variables "[camera] shot with question while listening" and "shot with question with split screen". The variables have been subjected to descriptive analyses, correlation with hypotheses, and bivariate analyses using Pearson's correlation (Rx-y). The results indicate a clear difference in the modes of television representation between national Spanish and European debates. It is discussed whether this audiovisual differentiation may condition the perception that the audience may have of European politics .

The author thoroughly analyzed the genesis, course and results of the Spanish local and municipal elections of 12 April 1931 that in two days led to the fall of the government and monarchy. He indicated three main reasons for the transformation of political system. The first one was the emergence of modern political parties and their concerted cooperation within the so–called Provisional Government (“shadow cabinet”), together with social and economic changes that strengthened the “natural” electorate of those parties (the bourgeoisie and workers). The second one was the fatigue of the population by dictatorial rule of Generals Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923–1930) and Dámaso Berenguer (1930–1931). This was furthered by the lack of ideas of monarchists about how to rule in the future (hence the elections), their genuine conviction that they would win the election and the fact that they were totally unprepared for the failure. All those factors influenced the course of electoral campaign (monarchists wanted to preserve status quo, while republicans criticized monarchists, but nobody had a positive programme for after the elections), and also the election’s results. After the first news of the initial, incomplete election’s results (there had never been a final count of all the votes, and it should be remembered that it were local elections) the government dissolved itself and the king with his family left Spain (although he did not formally abdicate), making it possible for the republican parties to take over the power in a peaceful way. The author emphasized that the lack of shared political projects as well as the ideological differences between the parties soon led to controversies which before long went beyond the debates acceptable in a parliamentary system and in the long run resulted in the outbreak of the civil war of 1936.