Resumo

RODRIGUEZ TERUEL, Juan; BARBERA ARESTE, Oscar; BARRIO LOPEZ, Astrid  e  BARAS GOMEZ, Montserrat. ¿Se han hecho más democráticos los partidos en España? La evolución en las reglas de elección del líder (1977-2008). Rev. mex. cienc. polít. soc [online]. 2010, vol.52, n.208, pp.159-183. ISSN 0185-1918.

The aim of this article is to test whether between 1977 and 2008 has been an increase in internal democracy in the main Spanish political parties. We will focus on the process of selecting the leader. Our research question is whether parties have fostered equality in the participation to select party leader, favouring representative tools or direct election either. We also test the hypothesis that the degree of equality in the selection party rules affects the degree of political competition amongst candidates for party leadership. The paper observes the conditions of eligibility (certification), the selectorate who chooses the leader, the level of participation of members and the level of competitiveness in the election. The results show that the parties have strengthened representation mechanisms for leader selection. Conversely, we didn't find empirical relation between selection party rules and the degree of competition for leadership.

Palavras-chave : políticos; selección del líder; democracia; España; elites políticas.