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Nearly thirty years after the restoration of democracy, the time has come to consider the major transformations brought about in the Spanish political system. This article, making use of a great volume of empirical data relating to citizen attitudes, seeks to measure the degree of institutionalization of Spanish democracy. The results of this analysis underscore the high level of acceptance of the transition to democracy & of the institutions it has created. Democracy itself, the state of the autonomies, the development of the welfare state & European integration are its principal features. Even so, a few areas of shadow remain in the area of civic behavior that lead to questions about the extent to which a wholly new political system has emerged. Adapted from the source document.

A review essay on a book by Janet V. Denhardt & Robert B. Denhardt, The New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering [Nueva York: M. E. Sharpe, 2003).

The general elections held in Spain in Mar 2000 shaped a novel political scenario since democracy was restored 25 years ago. It was the first time a Center-Right party achieved what experts & analysts had considered impossible only a few years before. The PP victory obtained by absolute majority, the decline in PSOE & IU voters, & high levels of abstention are the most prominent features of the year 2000 elections. An explanation of the above includes the PSOE's internal problems &, marginally, problems of the Left in general, especially the expediency of its messages in Spain & the European Community. Other explanations attempt to interpret the PP's victory at the polls expounding the party's achievements during the years it has been in the government. But most of the hypotheses evince the presumption that Spanish society is experiencing a change, specifically, in regard to the features, values, & guidelines that characterize its political culture. This article seeks to analyze the latter, reviewing indicators that are used to describe the political culture in order to see if there have been relevant changes in the way Spaniards perceive political objects. 3 Tables, 52 References. Adapted from the source document.