ABSTRACT
The Provisional Government, having assumed power in extraordinary circumstances, lacked strict democratic legitimacy until a general election could take place. The first of the Second Republic’s three general elections was held in late June 1931. In order to weaken caciquismo and encourage broad political alliances, multimember constituencies and a new voting system were introduced. The contest produced a ‘Constituent’ parliament (Sp. Cortes) overwhelmingly dominated by parties sympathetic to the new regime. Out of 470 seats the Socialists won 113, the Radicals 89, the Republican Left 85, the Catalonian and Galician allies of the latter 55, and other assorted pro-republicans around 60. In part this dramatic result reflected a widespread but not necessarily dependable willingness to give the Republic a chance, in part the temporary demoralization and organizational unpreparedness of the anti-and non-republican right, whose fifty or so depuries seriously under-represented its true strength and potential.
