ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the interaction between the new Spanish left-wing populist party Podemos, founded in January 2014, and the mainstream centre-left party PSOE. The chapter addresses the following research question: What role did PSOE play in committing Podemos to constitutional democracy? To respond to this question, the chapter examines the evolution of Podemos in relation to PSOE’s strategies, from its birth in January 2014 until the formation of the left-wing coalition government in January 2020, through a review of secondary literature and an analysis of the parliamentary records of the investiture sessions and motions of no confidence. The chapter identifies the causal mechanisms that have conditioned the trajectory of Podemos and reflects on the impact that Podemos has had on the Spanish party system. As PSOE, under the leadership of Pedro Sánchez, successfully prevented a sorpasso by travelling to the left rather than the centre, it forced Podemos to replace a strategy of challenging the constitution and the party system by one of centre-left wing collaboration.
