Oligarchic liberalism, caciquism and political democratisation between 1876 and 1923. The Catalan case

Resumen

This article seeks to contribute to explaining how caciquism operated in Catalonia during the Bourbon Restoration and how it evolved within the context of the emergence of mass politics and society during the early decades of the 20th century from a comparative Spanish and European perspective. Specifically, it analyses how some regional power caciquates were formed in the Catalan districts in order to further explore the development and evolution of these relationships. It then spotlights the early process through which the dynastic rotation in Catalonia was destroyed through the campaigns to condemn caciquism, and to what extent this process entailed true progress for democracy within the transition from political liberalism to democracy in Europe at the turn of the 20th century.