Business and Democracy in Spain

This work deals with the political transition in Spain from authoritarianism to democracy and its impact on business. It addresses the fundamental questions of how business was affected by the transition; how business, in turn, influenced the course of democratisation, through collective action; and how it influenced the market-place through the aggregate of individual business decisions. The work has an empirical base. Data was collected from the chief executive officers of 260 Spanish companies, and the managing directors of over 100 affiliates of their top-ranking business association, the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations (the CEOE ). Unlike many earlier political transitions to more open systems, in Latin America and southern Europe, the dynamics of economic change concurrent with political change is getting much greater attention in the East European transitions. The East European systems are attempting simultaneous political transitions, with movement from command to market economies. Some East Europeans have studied the Spanish experience to garner lessons for their own efforts.