A tool for accountability: petitions to Parliament and transparency in the reign of Isabel II (1837-1868)

Authors

  • Oriol Luján

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.205.05

Abstract

This article addresses practices connected to the concepts of accountability and transparency during the Spanish reign of Isabel II from the study of petitions addressed to the parliament. In detail, 2,981 petitions from seven different legislatures are examined, representing periods under governments of opposing political trends after the constitutional recognition of the right to petition (1837-1868). Beyond a general distinction between mercy and political requests, the paper shows that the idea of transparency was entailed within requirements of political responsibilities and clarification of laws. Indeed, it was the insistence of petitioners that led patrician liberalism to accountability, regardless of ideological tendencies. Without this action, in general political elites tended to omit these demands, which were extensively ignored and almost never resolved. However, progressive liberalism, in the Constituent legislature of 1854-1856, introduced accountability in petitions, although in a restricted way and with limited effectiveness.

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Published

2024-11-22

How to Cite

Luján, O. . (2024). A tool for accountability: petitions to Parliament and transparency in the reign of Isabel II (1837-1868). Revista De Estudios Políticos, (205), 121–152. https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.205.05

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Section

ARTICLES