The Memory of a Nation: How Spanish Political Parties and Their Electoral Manifestos Address Historical Memory

Authors

Aidan G. Coohill, SIT Study AbroadFollow

Home Institution

University of Colorado Boulder

Publication Date

Fall 2021

Program Name

Spain: Policy, Law, and Regional Autonomy in Europe

Abstract

After years of silence, the last two decades have seen Spain begin to seriously confront its own historical memory for the first time since its transition to democracy. This text aims to deconstruct the ways that Spanish political parties address historical memory and what memories they choose to address. This is accomplished by using data gathered from all major national parties’ political manifestos from 2000 to present. Manifestos, as demonstrations of political rhetoric and popular opinion, give us a valuable insight to the ways that parties and Spanish society as a whole approach historical memory. The data gathered shows foremost the amount of content within a manifesto a party dedicates to historical memory over time, as well as what specific issues parties and ideological groups tend to focus on. Ultimately, analysis shows that virtually all parties and ideological groups have enormously increased the content they dedicate to the topic. However, this comes in the forms of very differing viewpoints and addressing entirely different histories and past events.

Disciplines

European History | European Languages and Societies | Peace and Conflict Studies | Political History | Politics and Social Change | Social Influence and Political Communication

Recommended Citation

Coohill, Aidan G., "The Memory of a Nation: How Spanish Political Parties and Their Electoral Manifestos Address Historical Memory" (2021). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 3438.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/3438