Politica

Question 1

Democracy

Answer 1

It is a political and social organisation of the society in which the power is in people’s hands. They can choose governors by voting in elections.

Question 2

Dictadure

Answer 2

One person has full powers and there are no elections. Individual rights are not respected.

Question 3

Political powers

Answer 3

Executive: It is composed by:

The government: The president (Pedro Sánchez) or the Prime Minister, and the rest of the ministers are part of the government, to apply the laws.

The head of the state: The king or the president (in our case, Pedro Sánchez). They are symbolic and representative. In some Republics, they have more powers (USA, France).

Legislative: It is composed by the parliament, where the laws are made. In our case, the Congress (Lower Chamber) and the Senate (Higher Chamber).

Judiciary: it is composed by the judges of the Tribunal of Justice, who look out for the laws observance. There are different levels of justice.

Question 4

Eu institutions

Answer 4

European Parliament
Eu council
Council of European union
European Commission

Question 5

European Parliament

Answer 5

It is located in Strasburg, in France, and it approves laws for the EU, and the annual budget. It has 705 members elected by the European citizens for 5 years. Each country has its number of representatives. The president is Roberta Metsola, from Malta.

Question 6

European council

Answer 6

It defines the general political direction and the priorities of the European Union. The members are the head of the states of EU countries, the European Council president and the European Commission president. The president is Charles Michel and it is located in Brussels, in Belgium.

Question 7

Council of European Union

Answer 7

It is the voice of EU member governments. It adopts EU laws and coordinates EU policies. The members are the government ministers from EU countries, according to the policy area to be discussed. The president rotates between EU countries, and they are presidents for 6 months each. It was established in 1958 and is located in Brussels.

Question 8

European Commission

Answer 8

It promotes the general interests of the EU by proposing and enforcing legislation, and by implementing policies and the EU budget. The members are a team or “College” of Commissioners, 1 from each EU country. The president is Ursula von der Leyen. It is located in Brussels.

Question 9

Political organisation of Spain

Answer 9

Executive, legislative and judiciary

Question 10

Executive (spain)

Answer 10

The head of the state is the king who controls the regular operations of institutions. He is the highest representative of Spain’s international relations. He symbolizes the unity and permanence of the nation. He doesn’t have initiative in political acts, and must always be endorsed by the competent political authority.

In our case Pedro Sánchez. He applies the laws and rules the ministers and the government.

Question 11

Legislative (spain)

Answer 11

It is exercised by the Cortes Generales, the highest representative of Spanish people. They are a bicameral parliament made up by the Congress of Deputies (lower chamber) with 350 members, and the Senate (higher chamber) with 266, that is the chamber of territorial representation. They are elected every 4 years by Spanish people over 18 years old.

Question 12

Judiciary (spain)

Answer 12

It is ruled by judges and magistrates, who apply the law and administer justice in the name of the king. The highest tribunals are the Supreme Tribunal and the National Audience. Both are ruled by an institution, Consejo General del Poder Judicial, that controles nomination and promotions. We also find the Constitutional Tribunal, who solves problems of unconstitutionality and argument between the State and the autonomous communities.

Question 13

Autonomous communities

Answer 13

The Spanish Constitution recognises the right of nationalities and regions to be autonomous communities, who have a degree of self government.

To become one, they have to share historical, cultural and economic characteristics. There are 17 of them and 2 autonomous cities: Ceuta and Melilla.

Each AC has its own statute, that establishes that some of them have full competences (is entirely responsible of something) or shared competences (with the central government)

Question 14

Cada comunidad tiene…o

Answer 14

A Parliament: where laws are debated and passed, the action of the autonomous government is controlled, the president is elected and the budget is approved.

A President: Represents the AC, is elected by the Parliament and forms the government.

A Government: Implements and enforces the laws passed by the parliament. It is made by the president and “consejeros”.

Question 15

Povincias:

Answer 15

It is an administrative division made up of municipalities. It is a territorial division and a local authority, since it provides services to municipalities.

The current provinces were created in 1883. Their functions are:

To be an electoral district for national elections.
To serve a territorial division for the central government and for autonomous communities.
To work with municipalities to manage services and activities.

ACs can be uniprovincal, and their government functions are ruled by the autonomous government.

Question 16

Pais vasco

Answer 16

The Basque Country´s Statute was approved in 1979. It is based on previous Statutes. It allows us to have wide competences as our own police, transport, education, health system and the most important one, the government of each Province (Diputación) is allowed to collect taxes. These peculiarities are a compensation for their historical rights, as well as in Navarre.

Question 17

Legislative (país vasco)

Answer 17

It is a territorial camera composed by 75 deputies (25 per each territory), ruled by the Parliament. it approves the budget and controls the government actions. President: Bakartxo Tejería.

Question 18

Executive (pais vasco )

Answer 18

The Basque government is composed by the Lehendakari (Iñigo Urkullu, PNV) and 11 Consejeros. The Lehendakari is considered another institution, the Lehendakaritza or Presidencia. He lives in Ajuria Enea. His main function is to propose laws, govern the territory and coordinate the representation of the Basque country in Spain and abroad.

Question 19

Juntas generales

Answer 19

Their functions are to manage the local government of the province and coordinate with municipalities to promote and offer services such as transport, culture… The most important one is to collect taxes. The money is devoted to:

Basque government
Spanish government
To finance services for the population
The President of the Juntas Generales de Álava is Pedro Ignacio Elósegui and the members are the members are called Procuradores.

Question 20

Diputacióones

Answer 20

They are chosen by Juntas Generales and coordinate the needs of the Province and the provincial policy. They have a president called “Diputado General” and many consejeros called “Diputados” that govern different areas. the Diputado General is Ramiro González.

Question 21

Vitoria

Answer 21

A municipality is the most basic administrative division of Spanish territory. It consists of one or more population centers and is governed by a local authority close to residents to attend them quickly.

local councils (ayuntamiento) are responsible for governing municipalities. They have a mayor and councils (their number varies according to the size of the population). Citizens can vote them.

They manage the local government and obtain resources from taxes and what the state and autonomous communities give them, depending on the size of the population and its needs.

The local council of Vitoria is governed by a government ruled by the PNV and PSOE. Gorka Urtaran is the mayor and there are 26 councilors. They are grouped in commissions and each one are in charge of a local issue.