Spanish Version of Polarization: the Development Trajectory

A distinctive feature of many countries is polarization, the division of the political spectrum into two opposite camps. In this context, the experience of Spain, a country in which elements of innovation and traditionalism have interacted over centuries of history and, accordingly, the phenomenon of polarization in different forms and manifestations is present, acquires indisputable relevance. Based on interdisciplinary analysis, the article presents a holistic picture of polarization in Spanish manner. The author distinguishes the concept of “polarized society” from the concepts of “unstable society”, on the one hand, and “split society”, on the other. In each of these cases, there are dichotomies that divide society into opposite camps. However, they manifest themselves in different ways. The author highlights a number of dichotomies of Spanish political culture: a combination of caudillistic (personalist) and parliamentary traditions; the dilemma “monarchy–republic”; the unresolved territorial problem – especially the relations of the Center with Catalonia and the Basque Country; the conflict between Catholics and people of secular culture; division of the political spectrum into left and right; relation to the historical past, first of all to the Civil War and the Francoist dictatorship; the watershed between supporters of the neoliberal system of views, in particular, advocates for same-sex marriage and the possibility of gender reassignment, – and adherents of traditional attitudes who reject these innovations. Separately, the political and institutional aspects of the dichotomy are analyzed, manifested in the attitude of the Spaniards to the existing government institutions – parliament, parties, the electoral system, the judiciary. Other dichotomies include rich-poor contraposition, gender inequality, watersheds between young people and older generation, between city and village residents. Studying the phenomenon of polarization, the author turns to self-identification of the Spaniards. A vivid manifestation of polarization is the opposition of civil society and power in both old and new forms. Modernization process in Spanish society influences the dynamics of its polarization: in some cases it weakens (for example, dichotomy “Catholics – people of secular cultures”), in other – it does not lose its former acuity (dichotomy “center–regions”). Besides, its new manifestations arise (a schism between “progressives” who are destroying age-old foundations of the family, and “traditionalists” who defend these foundations). Polarization (as well as instability and fragmentation) of society can be considered as a way of existence of modern society with its growing conflictogenity.