El régimen jurídico de las campañas electorales en España

Abstract

The main objective of this Doctoral Thesis is to study and analyze the legal regime of electoral campaigns in Spain as an example of the fundamental phases of the electoral process. In doing so, this research offers a detailed analysis of the regulations that govern electoral processes, the evolution they have come through over the last four decades, as well as the changes we consider have been necessary, and should be made, to adapt to the new future challenges driven by social changes underlying the development of further electoral campaigns. The relevance of electoral campaigns lies not only in their political usefulness for the contestants, but also in their intrinsic connection with the legitimization of the democratic system, in order to guarantee the holding of free elections, and in which an undistorted electoral competition is fully guaranteed. In this respect, the confidence in the functioning of the campaign rules is an essential element for voters to rely on the running of the electoral process as a whole. The research underlying this Doctoral Thesis has three fundamental objectives. Firstly, it aims at carrying out a complete and systematic study of the model of electoral campaigns in Spain considering its legal regime. Secondly, the study pursues to assess its main deficits and shortcomings, as well as their consequences on the democratic right of election. Thirdly, the research suggests possible changes in the regulation of electoral campaigns in order to adapt them to a scenario of electoral competition with the conditioning factors of the present-day society. In addition to these three main objectives, this work also addresses the effect of the political parties’ behavior on the electoral contest and enquires into how the historical evolution of these political organizations has influenced the configuration of electoral campaigns. Accordingly, the structure of this Thesis goes in line with a systematic criterion compatible with the stated object; that is, the research is based on a study of the legal regime of campaigns considering the main related aspects. Specifically, the Thesis consists of eight chapters with the following distribution. Chapter one offers a conceptual framework and offers the definitions of the constituents and purposes of electoral campaigns. Chapter two deals with the foundations of the institutional campaign and its determining elements. Chapter three is dedicated to the funding questions of the electoral campaigns. Chapter four deals with the role of media in the electoral campaigns. Chapter five revolves around the electoral debates. Chapter six analyses the digitalization of electoral campaigns. Chapter seven concerns electoral surveys. Finally, Chapter eight presents and discusses the main findings and conclusions.