ABSTRACT

The Platform of Democratic Convergence linked in common cause the Socialist party (PSOE) wanted to dominate every aspect of public life, from the media to cultural and civic and recreational associations. This “totalitarianizing” passion was intended to expand merely formal democracy and to capture for the party an historic opportunity to remain in power for at least a generation. The PSOE wanted to dominate every aspect of public life, from the media to cultural and civic and recreational associations. In the 1986 elections, the PSOE, while still holding an absolute majority of the seats in Congress, saw its percentage of the valid votes drop to 44.3 percent, producing 184 seats. In the 1989 election, the PSOE ultimately won only 39.55 percent of the valid votes, producing 175 seats. In 1982, the PSOE went to the hustings pledging, among many other things, that if it came into power it would give the Spanish people the opportunity to decide for themselves.