Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the rise of Podemos in the light of its historical background. Our purpose is to sketch the main characteristics of this new political force (its ideology, its organization, and its social bases) in relation to the inherited constraints and dilemmas it has had to tackle. The chapter is divided into four sections. The first accounts for the historical roots of the so-called “Regime of ’78” and its current crisis. In the following two sections we explore the two main novelties of Podemos: its political discourse and its organizational functioning. The second section characterizes the ideology of Podemos as “left-wing populism” and considers its discursive and programmatic development, while the third section delves into the organizational form and the distribution of power that derives from it. The fourth section analyzes the profile of the voters of Podemos and the way in which it matches its strategy. Lastly, we offer some concluding remarks.
Much of this chapter is drawn from this previously published article: “Podemos and the Paradigm Shift” (Jacobin Magazine, 13 April 2015, available online at: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/04/podemos-spain-pablo-iglesias-european-left/). Some excerpts of the section 5 are also drawn from the article: “Podemos, the Upheaval of Spanish Politics and the Challenge of Populism” (published in Journal of European Contemporary Studies, 23 March 2017, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14782804.2017.1304899).
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Notes
- 1.
In 1975, public spending in Spain as a percentage of the GDP was of 26%, almost half of that of the United Kingdom (49%) or Sweden (47%), according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data. Defense spending, as a percentage of the total public spending, went from 16% in 1935 to 43% in 1945 (Comín and Díaz 2005).
- 2.
In this regard, the Spanish case is practically unique in the history of transitions into democracy (Elster 2004).
- 3.
In Spain the 15M Movement has never felt identified with the term “indignados” (outraged), despite the fact it has found popularity in the rest of the world. Stéphane Hessel’s work titled Time for Outrage: Indignez-vous!, for example, has had an entirely marginal influence on the 15M Movement.
- 4.
CIS study 2981 (March 2013).
- 5.
The rationale was simple: according to the studies undertaken by Podemos, only 5% of voters recognized the name of the formation, whereas over 50% knew who Iglesias was. The decision ultimately proved to be successful, but many ridiculed it as a sign of narcissism.
- 6.
In Spanish, “the people” translates into two different terms, el pueblo, the classical subject of the Left and nationalism, and la gente, a much less politically charged term, which is the one used by Podemos.
- 7.
Despite the fact that Podemos has never publicly defended populism, its leaders have theorized this strategy in a number of articles and interviews. A very interesting debate on this topic among leaders of Podemos and IU can be found in the TV program Fort Apache, hosted by Pablo Iglesias himself: “Podemos y el populismo,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q9oxr54X_Y.
- 8.
The expression was coined by Íñigo Errejón (2014) himself.
- 9.
Bolleyer (2013: 21) defines the leadership structure dilemma as “the tension between the interest of the founding elites to protect their own position and pursue their immediate interests in the newly formed party structure and the anticipated (individual and collective) benefits and costs of future party institutionalization.”
- 10.
Data from CIS surveys.
- 11.
The majority of Podemos’ voters are ex-voters of IU and PSOE, but one in three are new voters or previously did not vote, and around 8% previously voted PP.
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Rendueles, C., Sola, J. (2018). The Rise of Podemos: Promises, Constraints, and Dilemmas. In: García Agustín, Ó., Briziarelli, M. (eds) Podemos and the New Political Cycle. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63432-6_2
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