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Abstract.This article argues that the myth of the Golden Age is a key mobilising element within radical Basque nationalism. By using an ethno‐symbolist approach, this article argues that nostalgia, a catchword for looking back, usually relates to an idealised past. It then proceeds to explain how ETA in particular has domesticated the past to justify its political violence which is currently exalted as a means of honouring the fighting spirit of their ancestors. From this perspective, violence is presented as a redemptive act that can stop the decay of the Basque nation and bring a new political future in which the inspiring ancient virtues will be rediscovered. This nostalgic gaze upon the past continually 'reminds' radical Basque nationalists of an imaginary, yet familiar, past which can only be regained by using revolutionary violence.

'The Oxford Handbook of Spanish Politics' provides a comprehensive and comparative overview of the Spanish political system through the lens of political science. This handbook examines Spanish politics and government since the transition to democracy. The volume studies the political history, institutional changes, bureaucratic decision-making, political behaviour, and foreign affairs of Spain. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the main themes of democratic Spain and discusses the end of Spanish exceptionalism. It also introduces Spanish politics to an international audience of scholars and practitioners to be considered either in its own right or as a case among others in a comparative perspective.

This collection of essays focuses on the social, political and cultural transformations witnessed in Spain in the late 1970s. By combining top-down and bottom-up approaches, the volume offers a renewed approach to the peaceful (re-)birth of Spanish democracy and to those actors and factors that made it possible

Designed to evaluate the paradigmatic view of the Spanish transition as an ideal model for political and social change, this new and innovative volume appraises Spain's movement to democracy from a variety of important perspectives.

Published online: 14 Apr 2016 ; The political effects of the Great Recession on southern Europe were substantial. The rapid economic deterioration of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain from 2008 onwards was accompanied by an increase in citizens' dissatisfaction towards national political institutions. The sources of political mistrust in the southern periphery were of a political and economic nature. Using quantitative data from EU member states from 2000 to 2015, this paper evaluates the suitability of competing theories in explaining this shift in political attitudes in southern European countries. It first hypothesizes that political mistrust is explained by citizens' rationalist evaluations of changing macroeconomic performance. It also hypothesizes that political mistrust changes according to institutional performance. The paper argues that economic crises act as an external shock that places politics, politicians and institutions in the spotlight as a result of citizens' deteriorating performance of the economy. The findings suggest that unemployment, public debt and political corruption are key variables in understanding short-term changes in political mistrust.