Key Political Aspects of Isabel II's Reign

Main Political Features of Isabel II's Reign (1833-1868)

Although the reign saw many changes of government and different constitutions, it nevertheless had some features that remained unchanged over 25 years:

• A political system based on a conservative-leaning liberal monarchy, embodied by the Moderate Constitution of 1845. This constitution remained in force throughout the period despite political shifts, except for a few months in 1856 when it was partially modified. The Constitution established a regime where political participation was restricted to an oligarchy of landowners (census suffrage), senior military officers, and senior officials. This restricted suffrage excluded the rest of the country. It was also an authoritarian regime, defending order and a strong monarchy with a bicameral system that limited deep reforms and restricted individual and collective freedoms.
• Support from the Queen for the more conservative sectors. Since 1863, her progressive alignment provoked remoteness from her people and contributed to the fall of the monarchy in 1868.
• A constant of the reign was the constant presence of military figures among the country's rulers (praetorianism): Narváez, Espartero, O'Donnell, mainly. The military involvement in politics was due to several causes, most notably the weakness of a parliamentary system where alternation was not respected through elections, but the military was used to access government through pronouncements. There was also a belief that a military figure leading the executive ensured a strong government and guaranteed order. In fact, the military 'guaranteed' the liberal state as a reaction against the still-active Carlists, as well as against revolution.
• The exclusive presence in parliament of bourgeois parties: until 1854, Moderates and Progressives, and since then other groups such as the Liberal Union, a center group formed by political Moderates and Progressives, or the Democratic Party (radical progressive). Republicans were illegal and excluded from parliamentary life. But in practice, only the Moderates and Progressives held power, and governments throughout the reign were formed from their ranks.

Constitutions and Division of Powers

The constitutions of this period were therefore adapted to the political ideology of the party in power. Leaving aside the Royal Statute of 1834 (Carta Otorgada), the constitutions enacted during the period are:

• 1837 (Progressive)
• 1845 (Moderate)
• 1854 (Progressive - not fully enacted)
• 1856 (Moderate - attempt to restore 1845, short-lived)
• 1868: Fall of the regime and the beginning of the democratic stage (leading to the 1869 Constitution)

Features of Moderate Constitutions

• Very restricted suffrage (census suffrage)
• Shared sovereignty (Cortes and King)
• Monarchy with broad powers
• Bicameral Cortes with a Senate elected by the Crown or in their own right
• Local government controlled by the King
• Individual rights significantly curtailed
• Confessional state without freedom of worship
• Creation of the Civil Guard (since 1844)

Features of Progressive Constitutions

• Wider suffrage
• National sovereignty (in theory, but actually shared)
• Crown with fewer powers
• Bicameral Cortes with an elected Senate
• More extensive individual rights
• Freedom of worship
• Local councils elected
• National Militia

Centralization of Government

Centralization was a key feature of conservatism. The creation of the province stands out among the centralizing measures in terms of territorial administration.

Javier de Burgos Provincial Division (1833)

This provincial division was established by Javier de Burgos in 1833, dividing the country into 49 provinces. The same decree that created the provincial division also grouped provinces into "historical regions". The model followed was that of the French departments. At the head of each province, the national government would appoint a representative titled 'Political Chief' (future Civil Governor). The provincial division served as the basis for all branches of government. All municipalities and their administrative districts had to be wholly within a province.

Judicial Districts

In 1834, the provinces were divided into judicial districts (territorial units for the administration of justice, composed of one or more neighboring municipalities within the same province). Judicial districts housed the courts of first instance and investigation, which later became the basis for electoral districts and taxation.