1916 Spanish general election
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All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate 205 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1916 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 9 April (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 23 April 1916 (for the Senate), to elect the 16th Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain in the Restoration period. All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.
Overview
Electoral system
The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system. 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.[1][2] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of compulsory, universal manhood suffrage, which 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. Those older than 70, the clergy, first instance judges and public notaries were exempt from this obligation.[3][4]
For the Congress of Deputies, 98 seats were elected using a partial block voting system in 28 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 311 being elected under a one-round first-past-the-post system in single-member districts. Candidates winning a plurality in each constituency were elected. 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; in those with more than one seat and up to four, for no more than one less; and for one candidate in single-member districts. 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. The Congress was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, with each multi-member constituency being allocated a fixed number of seats. The law also provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated throughout the legislature.[1][5][6][7]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:[6][8][9][10][11][12]
| Seats | Constituencies |
|---|---|
| 8 | Madrid |
| 7 | Barcelona |
| 5 | Palma de Mallorca, Seville |
| 4 | Cartagena |
| 3 | Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, Gran Canaria, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santander, Tarragona, Tenerife, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza |
For the Senate, 180 seats were indirectly elected by the local councils and major taxpayers, with electors voting for delegates instead of senators. Elected delegates—equivalent in number to one-sixth of the councillors in each local council—would then vote for senators using a write-in, two-round majority voting system. 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. 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 Royal Spanish Academy; the royal academies of History, Fine Arts of San Fernando, Exact 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. 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 of the first class; Captain Generals of the Army and the Navy Admiral; the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops; and the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme War Council and the Supreme Council of the Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life (who were appointed by the Monarch).[1][13][14]
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 March and 22 March 1914, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 8 March and 22 March 1919, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[1][6][13]
The Cortes were officially dissolved on 16 March 1916, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 9 April (for the Congress) and 23 April 1916 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to convene on 10 May.[15]
Background
The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a constitutional monarchy, awarding the monarch power to name senators and to revoke laws, as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the army. The monarch would also 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 system, the major political parties of the time, the conservatives and the liberals—characterized as elite parties with loose structures and dominated by internal factions led by powerful individuals—alternated in power by means of election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, 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.[16][17]
Results
Congress of Deputies
 | ||||
| Parties and coalitions | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | +/− | |||
| Liberal Party–Liberal Democrats (Ministerials) (PL–LD)1 | 233 | +110 | ||
| Total Liberals | 233 | +110 | ||
| Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) | 88 | –105 | ||
| Maurist Conservatives (CM) | 17 | –5 | ||
| Ciervist Conservatives (CC) | 8 | +3 | ||
| Independent Conservatives (Cons.i) | 0 | –1 | ||
| Total Conservatives | 113 | –108 | ||
| Republican–Socialist Conjunction (CRS) | 13 | +1 | ||
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 1 | ±0 | ||
| Reformist Party (PR) | 12 | +1 | ||
| Republican Coalition (PRR–UFNR) | 6 | –5 | ||
| Republican Nationalist Federal Union (UFNR) | 1 | –5 | ||
| Autonomist Republican Bloc (BRA) | 1 | +1 | ||
| Independent Catalan Nationalist Republicans (Rep.nac.cat) | 1 | +1 | ||
| Independent Republicans (Rep.i) | 0 | –1 | ||
| Total Republicans | 33 | –2 | ||
| Regionalist League of Catalonia (LRC) | 13 | ±0 | ||
| Independent Catalan Nationalists (Nac.cat.i) | 1 | ±0 | ||
| Castillian Regionalists (Reg.cast) | 1 | +1 | ||
| Total Regionalists | 15 | +1 | ||
| Traditionalist Communion (CT) | 9 | +4 | ||
| Independent Catholics (Cató.i) | 3 | –2 | ||
| Independent Integrists (Int.i)2 | 2 | ±0 | ||
| Total Carlists and Integrists | 14 | +2 | ||
| Basque Dynastics (Din.v) | 1 | ±0 | ||
| Independents (Indep) | 0 | –1 | ||
| Vacants | 0 | –1 | ||
| Total | 409 | +1 | ||
| Sources[18][19] | ||||
Footnotes:
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Notes
References
- ^ a b c d Constitución de la Monarquía Española (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Constitution) (in Spanish). 30 June 1876. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- ^ "El Senado en la historia constitucional española". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- ^ García Muñoz 2002, pp. 106–107.
- ^ Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
- ^ Ley electoral de los Diputados a Cortes (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 28 December 1878. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- ^ a b c Ley reformando la Electoral vigente (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 8 August 1907. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ Ley mandando que los distritos para las elecciones de Diputados á Córtes sean los que se expresan en la división adjunta (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 1 January 1871. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ Leyes aprobando la división electoral en las provincias de Sevilla y de Barcelona (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 5 July 1898. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
- ^ Ley mandando que en lo sucesivo sean cuatro los Diputados á Cortes que elegirá la circunscripción electoral de Cartagena (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 7 August 1899. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ^ Ley estableciendo una circunscripción para elegir tres Diputados á cortes, que la constituirán los cuatro partidos judiciales de Ayamonte, Hueva, Moguer y la Palma, con todas las poblaciones que de ellos forman parte (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 24 March 1902. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
- ^ Ley disponiendo que el territorio de la Nación española que constituye el Archipiélago canario, cuya capitalidad reside en Santa Cruz de Tenerife, conserve su unidad, ateniéndose los servicios públicos en el modo y forma que se determina en esta ley (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 11 July 1912. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ Real decreto disponiendo que la isla de La Palma (Canarias) se divida, a los efectos de las elecciones para Diputados a Cortes, en dos distritos, que se denominarán de Santa Cruz de la Palma y de Los Llanos (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Royal Decree) (in Spanish). 20 March 1916. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
- ^ a b Ley electoral de Senadores (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 8 February 1877. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- ^ "Real decreto disponiendo el número de Senadores que han de elegir las provincias que se citan" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (76). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 1021. 16 March 1899.
- ^ "Real decreto declarando disuelto el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado; que las elecciones de Diputados se verifiquen el 9 de Abril próximo y las de Senadores el 23 de igual mes, y que las Cortes se reúnan en Madrid el 10 de Mayo siguiente" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (80). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 661. 20 March 1916.
- ^ Martorell Linares 1997, pp. 139–143.
- ^ Martínez Relanzón 2017, pp. 147–148.
- ^ "Cortes election 9 April 1916". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ "Graphs and analysis: Elections in the Revolutionary Sexennium and the Restoration 1869-1923". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Electoral History. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
Bibliography
- Fernández Almagro, Melchor (1943). "Las Cortes del siglo XIX y la práctica electoral". Revista de Estudios Políticos (in Spanish) (9–10): 383–419. ISSN 0048-7694. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- Martorell Linares, Miguel Ángel (1997). "La crisis parlamentaria de 1913-1917. La quiebra del sistema de relaciones parlamentarias de la Restauración". Revista de Estudios Políticos (in Spanish) (96). Madrid: Centro de Estudios Constitucionales: 137–161.
- Martínez Ruiz, Enrique; Maqueda Abreu, Consuelo; De Diego, Emilio (1999). Atlas histórico de España (in Spanish). Vol. 2. Bilbao: Ediciones KAL. pp. 109–120. ISBN 9788470903502.
- Armengol i Segú, Josep; Varela Ortega, José (2001). El poder de la influencia: geografía del caciquismo en España (1875-1923) (in Spanish). Madrid: Marcial Pons Historia. pp. 655–776. ISBN 9788425911521.
- García Muñoz, Montserrat (2002). "La documentación electoral y el fichero histórico de diputados". Revista General de Información y Documentación (in Spanish). 12 (1): 93–137. ISSN 1132-1873. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- Carreras de Odriozola, Albert; Tafunell Sambola, Xavier (2005) [1989]. Estadísticas históricas de España, siglos XIX-XX (PDF) (in Spanish). Vol. 1 (II ed.). Bilbao: Fundación BBVA. pp. 1072–1097. ISBN 84-96515-00-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
- Martínez Relanzón, Alejandro (2017). "Political Modernization in Spain Between 1876 and 1923". Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Sklodowska, sectio K. 24 (1). Madrid: Maria Curie-Skłodowska University: 145–154. doi:10.17951/k.2017.24.1.145. S2CID 159328027.
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