Tesis sobre el tema "Caciquisme"

El caciquisme en el període de la Restauració ha estat àmpliament estudiat. Aquest fet ha permès una interpretació global, majorment a partir de l’establiment del sufragi universal (1890), amb algunes diferències geogràfiques i cronològiques. Sense qüestionar aquesta interpretació, l’estudi de la microhistòria permet aportar algunes matisacions. Aquesta tesis pretén presentar les característiques del caciquisme al Districte Electoral de Berga en el període 1868-1907. A partir de la segona meitat del segle XIX, en la segona fase de la industrialització catalana, essent insuficient el carbó autòcton, es va recórrer a l’energia hidràulica dels rius Llobregat, Ter i Cardener. En el curs del Llobregat al seu pas per aquest Districte, sempre deprimit, s’establiren fàbriques de riu, la majoria de les quals es van beneficiar de l’estatus de colònia. Els industrials establerts es convertiren en els nous cacics que exerciren un poder absolut en tots els ordres. El frau electoral constant, fou una conseqüència d’aquest caciquisme, nou al territori, que va convertir als antics cacics en els seus agents electorals. Dominat políticament cada un d’ells el territori en el que tenien els seus interessos precisaven exercir la seva influència davant dels successius governs centrals, per la qual cosa van intervenir directament en les eleccions legislatives. Resum de les eleccions legislatives: 1876. els lliberals locals, ofereixen l’acta al general Martínez Campos que la deriva al seu col•laborador, el general Bonanza, sense eleccions; 1879. Els cacics locals tornen a presentar a Bonanza, però els germans Rosal, amb interessos fabriles, agraris, ramaders i forestals, aconsegueixen amb l’aprovació de Martínez Campos que l’acta sigui per Duran i Bas; 1891. Els locals tornen a presentar al lliberal Bonanza, però els Rosal presenten al també lliberal Marín. Fou proclamat Bonanza, però finalment l’acta va ser per Marín; 1884 i 1886, Rosal aconsegueix l’acta pel lliberal Marín amb el vot dels carlistes i clergues, integristes inclosos; 1891. Sufragi universal. Els carlistes presenten al seu cap, Llauder que obté l’acta. Rosal abandona a Marín i no intervé aparentment; 1893. L’acta és per Marín, passat ara als conservadors i presentat pels lliberals contraris a Rosal; 1896 Agustí Rosal presenta al seu germà Antoni, l’acta fou per Marín, però no va ser aprovada; 1898, els lliberals locals aconsegueixen l‘acta per Joan Ferrer Vidal, contra Rosal. L’acta tampoc fou aprovada; 1899. Enfrontament entre industrials pel traçat del ferrocarril i els interessos miners: Rosal contra L. G. Pons Enrich, recolzada per Olano. Rosal y Pons es rellevaran fins l’any 1907. En aquestes eleccions l’acta fou per Rosal; el 1901 per Pons; el 1903 per Rosal i el 1905 per Pons; 1907. Eleccions de Solaridad Catalana. El Comitè d’aquest moviment, va assignar l’acta de Berga als carlistes en la persona de Bordas i Flaquer. Antoni Rosal es va retirar i Pons va representar l’antisolidaritat. L’acta fou per Bordas. El desembre de 1909, morí prematurament Agustí Rosal Sala, conegut al seu temps com “el Gran Cacic”. El caciquisme va entrar en una nova etapa.
The aim of this thesis is to present the characteristics of caciquism in the electoral district of Berga in the period from 1868 to 1907. From the second half of the 20th century onwards, due to the insufficiency of domestic coal, they resorted to hydraulic energy from rivers Llobregat, Ter and Cardener. River factories were established along the course of river Llobregat on its way through this electoral district, always depressed, and most of them got a colony status. The industrialists became the new caciques. Electoral fraud was a consequence of caciquism. Summary of legislative elections: 1876. The local liberals offer the act to general Martínez Campos who, in turn, gives it to his partner, general Bonanza, without elections; 1879. Bonanza is put forward again by the local caciques, but Rosal brothers, who had manufacturing, agrarian, farming and forest interests, succeeded in giving the act to Durán y Bas, with Martínez Campos’ approval; 1891. The liberal Bonanza is put forward by the locals again, but Marín, also a liberal, is put forward by the Rosals. Although Bonanza was elected, the act was eventually given to Marín; 1884 and 1886, Rosal gets the act for the liberal Marín, with votes from carlists and priests, fundamentalists included; 1891. Universal suffrage. Carlists put their leader forward, Llauder, who gets the act. Rosal deserts Marín and apparently he does not intervene; 1893. Marín, who is on the conservative side now, gets the act and is put forward by the liberals, who were contrary to Rosal; 1896. Agustín Rosal puts his brother Antonio forward, Marín gets the act although it was not approved; 1898. The local liberals get the act for Juan Ferrer Vidal, against Rosal. The act was not approved neither; 1899. Conflict among industrialists over the railway line and mining interests: Rosal against L.G.Pons Enrich, supported by Olano. Rosal and Pons take turns until 1907. In these elections Rosal got the act; in 1901 Pons got it; in 1903 Rosal got it and in 1905 Pons got it; 1907. Elections in the Catalan Solidarity Party are held. The committee of this movement assigned the Berga Act to carlists, in the person of Bordas y Flaquer. Antonio Rosal disengaged and Pons represented anti-solidarity. Bordas got the act.

A començaments del segle XX, en una cojuntura de descomposició institucional, la vida política local de la ciutat de Vic, població catalana d'uns 13.000 habitatnts situada a l'interior de Catalunya, seu de la diòcesi episcopal més extensa del país i amb un important Seminari Conciliar, comença a evolucionar en la direcció d'una modernització que, al llarg dels anys, constatarà importants transformacions. En el context català, la nova política de masses descansarà sobre tres aspectes principals. En primer lloc, s'organitzaran partits capaços de mobilitzar els afiliats i els simpatitzants per aconseguir uns objectius concrets: fer una manifestació, guanyar unes eleccions, constituir una seu social, editar un periòdic. En la fase de transició cap a les organitzacions "mobilitzadores", trobarem partits polítics que combinen el carisma exagerat de determinats líders amb la potència d'unes bases que no es deixen arrossegar si els seus criteris no coincideixen amb els dels "homes forts"; els partits estaran a mig camí entre la influència dels notables i el poder decisori de la militància organitzada. En segon lloc, les urnes reflectiran, progressivament, les peocupacions i els interessos polítics de la majoria, deixant de banda les maniobres "electoreres" dels cacics, que tindran dificultats creixents per a organitzar els processos electorals d'acord amb els seus interessos. Finalment, les institucions locals deixaran de tenir "vida pròpia", al marge de les altrenatives polítiques que es produeixen a la societat; les discusssions i lluites polítiques, forjades en "l'espai públic", es traslladaran als ajuntaments.
Tot i que aquestes transformacions (en l'àmbit dels partits, de les eleccions i dels ajuntaments) definiran nous estils de fer política, la modernització no es produirà de manera uniforme. A la Catalunya tradicional, de la que la ciutat de Vic forma part, els canvis en l'esfera pública tindran unes característiques pròpies, la qual cosa posarà en qüestió, d'altra banda, la imatge idealitzada d'una societat homogènia i avançada. A Vic, en un context que combina una presència institucional de l'Església catòlica especialment significada i el desenvolupament d'una important economia industrial, la vida pública estarà dirigida per forces burgeses que hegemonitzaran, davant la feblesa del moviment popular autòcton, el procés de transformació política. Aquestes èlits combatran, successivament i a partir del tombant de segle XX, les imposicions del "cunerisme" dinàstic, les estratègies de les direccions dels nous partits hegemònics (catalanistes, tradicionalistes) i l'expansió d'un moviment democràtic que reclama protagonisme polític per a les classes populars. Es tractarà de controlar els canvis polítics per tal que no es modifiquin els aspectes essencials de la dominació social, i política, que exerceix el grup dirigent local. Tanmateix, l'extensió de la "vida política nacional" farà que aquest "control polític" esdevingui cada cop més difícil i possibilitarà, en un marc de transformacions econòmiques i d'extrema conflictivitat social, que les forces populars es vagin incorporant a la vida pública de Vic, a pesar de les maniobres de l'èlit dirigent destinades a impedir-ho.
A partir de la crisi del 1917 s'accelerà la dissolució de la "vella política". La dictadura del general Primo de Rivera, que inicialment es presentà com una opció "regeneradora" capaç de resoldre els probles endèmics del país, evidencià la impossibilitat de continuar mantenint les masses allunyades de la vida pública espanyola. La proclamació de la República, que inaugurà un context políticoinstitucional radicalment diferent del que oferia la Restauració borbònica, possibilità que la societat espanyola disposés de dos requisits indispensables per a la convivència democràtica: la llibertat i el Parlament. A la ciutat de Vic, com a la resta de Catalunya, el nou règim republicà va permetre l'entrada de les classes populars en la política local, tot i que aquesta democratització no sempre fou favorable a les forces progressistes.
On the early XXth century, in an environment of institutional decomposition, local political life in the city of Vic, -a catalan community of 13.000 inhabitants of Catalunya, and also see of the bigger Episcopal dioceses if the country and an important conciliar seminar-, begin to change into a modernisation that, along the years, realised important transformations in the catalan context the new mass politics lied on three main aspects. First of all, the parties capable to mobilise affiliates and supporters organised themselves to reach concrete goals: prepare a demnstration, win the elections, create a social see, publish a paper. In this fase of transition into "mobilised" organisations, political parties can be found combining the grat charisma of some of the leaders and the poxer of a basis that doesn't let itself drag on if their believes do not agree with these of the "strong men"; the parties were in the way betwen the influence of the notables and the power of the organised militancy to take decisions. Secondly, the ballot boxes reflected, progressively, the worries and political interests of the majority, siding "electory" manoeuvres of the caciques who had increasing difficulties according to their interests. Finally, local institutions stopped having their "own life", apart of the political alternatives taking place in the society; political struggles and discussions, held in the public sphere, moved into the City Council.
Even these transdormations (in the area of parties, elections and city councils) defined new stiles of doing politics, modernisation didn't spread homogeneously. In the traditional Catalunya, from which Vic is part, the changes in the public sphere had their own characteristics, and this lead into question this ideal image of an homogeneous and advanced society. In Vic, where the particularly signified presence of the institutions of the catolic church was combined with the developing of an important industrial economy, public life was in hands og burgeois forces, against the weakness of the indigenous popular movement, to lead the process of political transformation. These elites fighted, successively after the crossing of the XXth century, the impositions of the "dynastic cunerism", the strategies of the leaderships of the new hegemonic parties (traditionalists catalanists) and the expansion of a democratic movement claiming for the leading role of popular classes. The need was to control the political changes in order not to modify the essential aspects of social, and political, domination practiced by the local leading group. Eventrough, the extension of the "national political life" made this "political control" more difficult and this, in the context of economical transformations and extreme social conflict, allowed popular forces to incorporate into public life of Vic, eventrogh the manoeuvres of the leading elite to avoid it.
After the crises of 1917 the dissolution of the old politics accelerated. The dictatorship of the General primo de Rivera, who inicially presented himself as an option of "regeneration" capable to solve the endemic problems of the country, showed an incapacity to keep the masses away from the Spanish political life. The proclamation of the Republic, as a strat of a political and constitutional context radically different from that of the Borbonic restauration, let the Spanish society enjoy the two requisites for the democractic coexistence: freedom and Parlamient. In the city of Vic, as in the rest of Catalonia, the new Republican regime permited the entrance of popular classes in the local politics, even this democratisation was not always favouring progressive forces.

"Comunidades encadenadas" es una tesis doctoral antropológica e histórica sobre la cultura política del caciquismo durante el periodo comprendido entre 1915 y 2014 en el distrito Mixe, del estado de Oaxaca, México. El objetivo principal es validar un nuevo modelo teórico que se propone a partir de Oligarquía y caciquismo de Joaquín Costa con el material empírico que se ha recopilado en el campo a través de múltiples fuentes etnográficas e históricas. Se emplea un método hipotético-deductivo para explorar en profundidad de tres cacicazgos de la unidad de geográfica y étnica de análisis. A partir de estos resultados, se han refinado las hipótesis propuestas para ayudar, a fin de cuentas, a definir y detectar el fenómeno socio-político del caciquismo y para conectarlo con el concepto más amplio del patronazgo informal y el de partido político. El caciquismo se define como una fórmula muy concreta de intermediación que conecta y sujeta poblaciones humanas. Establece un triple mecanismo de control sobre los sujetos, un encadenamiento mediante favores, sujeciones y transmisiones entre los grupos local y nacional. La articulación entre estas tres cadenas funciona de la siguiente manera: el caciquismo crea un monopolio político y económico que manipula los vínculos de la comunidad con la nación, desviando recursos y patronazgo hasta convirtiéndolas en cadenas de transmisión; con estos últimos el cacique entreteje las cadenas de favor con las que subordina a su clientela local y con ello reemplaza la jerarquía de responsabilidades de las instituciones locales por deudas de lealtad; finalmente, mediante el poder absoluto y los recursos económicos, el caciquismo contribuye a cercar a la población para mantenerla cautiva y subordinada a su dominio. El caciquismo establece un triple monopolio: 1) el económico, a través de la dominación de las relaciones externas y los intercambios comerciales (transmisión); 2) el de la violencia, mediante la creación de grupos parapoliciales y el control de las armas de fuego (sujeción); 3) el político, al concentrar en la persona del cacique los tres poderes por medio de la reciprocidad asimétrica de las relaciones patrón-cliente (favor). En conclusión, tres cadenas, tres monopolios, tres poderes y una sola persona. El resultado es que el caciquismo integra en una única cadena de mando a los municipios y distritos con el Estado. Los caciques se demuestran así como un eslabón esencial que preservar la hegemonía de una élite que gobierna como una oligarquía. Y, finalmente, la autocracia de los pueblos bajo el yugo del caciquismo sirve a la dinámica más general de la centralización estatal del poder.
"Comunidades encadenadas" (Chained Communities) is an anthropological and historical PhD thesis about the political culture of caciquismo –a special kind of power patronage– between 1915 and 2014 in the Mixe district of Oaxaca, Mexico. The main research objective is to validate a new theoretical model – based on Joaquín Costa’s theory Oligarquía y caciquismo– using empirical data gathered through fieldwork using multiple ethnographic and historical sources. A hypothetical-deductive method is applied to explore three cases of caciquismo from the geographical and ethnic unit of analysis. The hypothesis are refined based on this analysis in order to help define and identify the socio-political phenomenon of caciquismo and to connect it to the wider concept of informal and party patronage. Caciquismo is defined as a very specific formula for intermediation that both connects and restrains human communities. It establishes a triple control mechanism over individuals through favours, subjugation, and transmission between local and national groups. The three chains of Caciquismo are articulated in the following way: by creating an economic and political monopoly that affects the community’s ties to the nation, the resources and patronage provided are diverted internally; with these, the cacique establishes his patronage through favours, which he uses to subordinate his local clientele, replacing the local institutions’ hierarchies of responsibilities with what it is defined here as debts of loyalty; finally, caciquismo uses both absolute power and economic resources to keep people subordinated and captive to its domination. Caciquismo establishes a triple monopoly: 1) economic monopoly, through the domination of external political and commercial relations (transmission); 2) monopoly of violence, through control of firearms and creating community police groups (subjugation); 3) political monopoly, concentrating all three powers in the cacique through the asymmetric reciprocity of patron-client relationships (favours). In conclusion, there are three chains of control, three monopolies, three powers but only one person. Caciquismo integrates communities, districts and the central state into a single chain of command. Caciques are an essential cog in the wheel that preserves the hegemony for an elite that rules government as an oligarchy. The autocracy of caciquismo also contributes to the more general dynamics of state centralization of power.

A través de la prensa ibicenca de los años republicanos advertimos una sociedad en pleno proceso de transformación, aunque continuase siendo una comunidad conservadora muy influenciada por la Iglesia, en la cual pervivía un caciquismo clientelista consentido y de base política. En ella encontramos, junto a las débiles organizaciones políticas de izquierdas o el camaleónico Partido Liberal-Disidente/ Partido Republicano de Centro, formaciones dinásticas derechistas como el Partido Liberal Regionalista Ibicenco, cuyo líder se convirtió interesadamente al regionalismo tras haber roto con la dirección provincial y nacional del Partido Liberal. Tal adscripción regionalista, no asumida enteramente por los votantes, fue una de las causas que comportaron el descalabro electoral de sus candidatos en todas las convocatorias de 1931 y, con ello, la disolución de la formación y el nacimiento del Partido Social Agrario-CEDA y, posteriormente, del Partit Regionalista d’Eivissa.

La presente Tesis doctoral se divide en tres bloques bien diferenciados: en el primero se trazan las líneas maestras de la realidad social, económica y política imperante en la provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife durante la primera mitad del siglo XX. En el segundo, se aborda el desarrollo de las instituciones políticas (municipales, insulares, provinciales y nacionales) a lo largo del periodo tomando como hilo conductor la supervivencia del clientelismo y el caciquismo sobre el que se asienta el sistema. En el tercero, se estudian todas las manifestaciones de oposición surgidas contra un régimen que margina y oprime a gran parte de la población, tanto en el campo como en la ciudad, aglutinando a todas las orientaciones políticas catalogadas bajo el, tan amplio como confuso, concepto de "izquierdas". Dentro de él tiene una relevancia especial el análisis y caracterización de la resistencia y represión surgida tras la sublevación militar del 18 de julio de 1936.
Title of Thesis: THE PROVINCE OF SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE BETWEEN TWO DICTATORSHIPS (1923-1945). HUNGER AND ORDER. The doctoral thesis is divided into three blocks. In the first are traced the main points of the social, economic and political conditions in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the first half of the twentieth century. In the second section, is raised the development of political institutions (municipal, insular, provincial and national) during the examined period, taking as a common theme the survival of patronage system and chieftainship. In the third section, I study the opposition emerged against a regime that marginalizes the great majority of the population, both in the country and in the city, uniting all the political directions laid under the concept of the left-wing. The analysis of the repression emerged after the military uprising of July the 18th, 1936, has special relevance. The traditionally dominant class in the province (large landowners and merchants, enriched with the export of bananas) through its network of clientele, dominated all political structures in the province, since the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. They kept political control during the Second Republic, holding back social reforms in areas where power was lost, and got involved in the coup of July the 18th, 1936, being restored back into the institutions that govern public life.

Fondée sur l’étude d’un corpus riche composé de récits de vie, d’observations participantes réalisées entre 2003 et 2010, d’archives et de documents récoltés sur le terrain, cette thèse explore les rapports de pouvoir et les dominations multiples qui agitent la vie politique de la municipalité de San Pedro Chenalhó, située dans la région des hautes-terres du Chiapas, Mexique. La thèse prend appui sur un cadre théorique inspiré de Gramsci dans lequel s’encastrent des analyses empruntées à la sociologie des mouvements sociaux, à l’anthropologie politique de l’État et des ONG, et à la micro-histoire. L’étude en trois volets remonte aux années 1940 et s’achève en 2010, afin d’analyser la genèse et les transformations des rapports des pedranos à l’État mexicain, par le biais de portraits de leaders politiques et religieux locaux. La crise politique et économique que connaît le Chiapas au tournant des années 1990 s’est exprimée à Chenalhó par un double phénomène d’autonomisation de la justice : la rébellion des pedranos contre des caciques culturels aboutit à la création d’une municipalité autonome zapatiste à Polhó en 1996 (analysée depuis la vie quotidienne et articulée à la mise en scène de l’organisation zapatiste) et engendra la formation d’un groupe d’autodéfense dans l’ejido de Los Chorros en 1997. La réactivation d’anciens antagonismes politiques, religieux ou familiaux entraîna des violences en cascade tout au long de l’année 1997. L’analyse détaillée des assassinats et du massacre d’Acteal atteste d’une combinaison d’un « art de la guerre » des pedranos (rumeurs, accusations de sorcellerie, privatisation des espaces communautaires, armement de civils, déguisements) et d’un rituel sacrificiel de l’État mexicain visant à réinstaurer un ordre profondément menacé. Puis l’affaire Acteal et ses controverses interprétatives (conflit intercommunautaire/guerre de basse intensité, massacre/bataille), ainsi que les dispositifs de réconciliation au bilan mitigé, illustrent comment les réappropriations du passé servent de moteurs à de nouvelles actions collectives par des acteurs politiques et religieux qui s’emparent a posteriori de telles ruptures historique, morale et symbolique. Cette thèse tente ainsi de saisir quelques-uns des enjeux du Mexique contemporain, notamment la violence politique constitutive d’un Centaure mexicain moderne traversé par des crises récurrentes
Based on a rich corpus study, this thesis explores the power relations and the many dominations that stir the political life of the municipality of San Pedro Chenalho in the area of the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. At the crossroads of analysis borrowed from the sociology of social movements, political anthropology of the State and NGOs and micro-history, the study treefold analysis genesis and transformation of the Mexican state in the region through portraits of local political and religious leaders. The political and economic crisis in Chiapas in the 1990s has been expressed in Chenalho by a double phenomenon of autonomization of justice: the creation of an autonomous municipality in Zapatista Polho in 1996 and the formation of a group self-defense in the ejido of Los Chorros in 1997. The reactivation of former political, religious or family antagonisms led cascading violence throughout 1997. The detailed analysis of assassinations and of the Acteal massacre shows the "art of war" of the pedranos and the sacrificial ritual of the Mexican state to reinstate a profoundly threatened order. The Acteal case and its interpretative controversies and subsequent reconciliation mechanisms, illustrate how the reappropriation of the past act as drivers of new collective actions by political and religious actors who seize post such historical, moral and symbolic ruptures. This thesis thus attempts to capture the constitutive political violence of a modern Mexican Centaur crossed by recurrent seizures

This thesis focuses upon the cacicazgo of Gabriel Barrios Cabrera, in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, Mexico during the 1920s. It seeks to analysis the extent to which previously identified trends in post-revolutionary regional politics can be applied to this isolated mountainous region. Conclusions are based upon evidence obtained from national, state, municipal, and private archives in Mexico. In addition, a programme of oral history was conducted within the Sierra de Puebla. The study is divided into six main components, each representing a significant aspect of Barrios' cacicazgo. These comprise: local historical precedents of Indian leadership and co-operation with non-Indian politicians; the range of responsibilities and opportunities that Barrios enjoyed in his pivotal role as a federal military officer under Carrancista and Sonorense administrations; the nature of his grass-roots support, his use of cuerpos voluntarios and patronage of municipal officials; Barrios' political affiliations beyond the Sierra and his struggle for political supremacy within the Sierra; the nature and motives of the cacique's regional development initiatives, and an analysis of the contradiction of his apparent pro-campesino, yet anti-agrarian, stance; a case study of the district of Zacapoaxtla, which demonstrates the importance of local factionalism and portrays the practical application of the Barrios cacicazgo at the most local level. After identifying the causes of Barrios' fall from grace in 1930, the thesis concludes by arguing that caciquismo in the Sierra de Puebla was essentially different from models of regional power-broking found elsewhere in postrevolutionary Mexico. While similarities existed, Barrios' style of leadership displayed more of a consistency with local conditions and precedents than any broader ideological tendencies. Continued research at the local level is essential if we are to obtain a clearer understanding of the diversity of experiences endured by Mexicans in the aftermath of revolution.

La present tesi doctoral estudia la biografia del metge i dirigent catalanista Bartomeu Robert Yarzábal.
Figura destacada de la Catalunya de finals del segle XIX i començaments del XX, el doctor Robert va ser considerat com un dels metges més prestigiosos de la seva època i com un excel·lent professor universitari. Cal destacar, també, el seu paper com a renovador de les infrastructures hospitalaries i docents catalanes.
Tanmateix, si per alguna raó ha passat a la posteritat el doctor Robert, és gràcies a la seva transcendental activitat política. Erigit en un convençut partidari de la regeneració política després del desastre del 98, el doctor Robert es nomenat alcalde de Barcelona l'any 1899. El seu pas per l'alcaldia serà breu, però la seva lluita contra el caciquisme i la seva obra en favor de la depuració del cens electoral el convertiran en una figura política molt respectada.
L'any 1901, Robert, que ja s'ha convertit en un símbol del catalanisme polític, serà elegit primer president de la Lliga Regionalista, partit polític fundat aquell any i que ha estat considerat com la primera formació política moderna i catalanista en la història política catalana.
Elegit diputat a Corts el maig de 1901 en representació d'aquest partit, el doctor Robert farà sentir la veu del catalanisme polític en el Congrés dels Diputats de Madrid.
La seva mort, esdevinguda l'abril de 1902, es convertirà en una multitudinària manifestació de dol popular, i posarà de manifest que Robert havia estat un dels metges i una de les figures polítiques més estimades del seu temps.
La presente tesis doctoral estudia la biografía del médico y dirigente catalanista Bartolomé Robert Yarzábal.
Figura destacada de la Cataluña de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX, el doctor Robert fué considerado cómo uno de los médicos más prestigiosos de su época y cómo un excelente profesor universitario. Cabe destacar, también, su papel como renovador de las infraestructuras hospitalarias y docentes catalanas.
Sin embargo, si por alguna razón ha pasado a la posteridad el doctor Robert, es por su transcendental actividad política. Erigido en un firme partidario de la regeneración política tras el desastre del 98, el doctor Robert es nombrado alcalde de Barcelona en 1899. Su paso por la alcaldía será breve, pero su lucha contra el caciquismo y su obra en favor de la depuración del censo electoral le convertiran en una figura política muy respetada.
En 1901, Robert, que ya se ha convertido en un símbolo del catalanismo político, será elegido primer presidente de la Liga Regionalista, partido político fundado aquel año y que ha sido considerado cómo la primera formación política moderna y catalanista en la historia política catalana.
Elegido diputado a Cortes en mayo de 1901 en representación de éste partido, el doctor Robert hará sentir la voz del catalanismo político en el Congreso de los Diputados de Madrid.
Su muerte, acaecida en abril de 1902, se convertirá en una multitudinaria manifestación de duelo popular, y pondrá de manifiesto que Robert había sido uno de los médicos y una de las figuras políticas más queridas de su tiempo.

El trabajo muestra la evolución de la trama política general, española mediante el análisis en una zona concreta de la Región de Murcia en el período 1891-1910. La primera parte indaga en la estructura de la propiedad presentando a los grupos sociales. La segunda parte atiende expresamente a la política, mostrando la relación entre la dinámica de los poderes locales y del estado a través de la organización de las elecciones. La tesis demuestra que en el período estudiado no se produce ni una sola elección libre y democrática. Finalmente expone información sobre las revueltas sociales que se produjeron y la contundente represión en una aparente contradicción entre actitudes de paternalismo y de violencia, las dos caras definitorias del sistema caciquil.
The study is centred upon the small boroughs which formed three separately named districts, in the period 1891-1910, and which formed societies of a rural charachter, in the midst of the general transformation towards capitalistic norms. These district were characterised by the unequal distribution of property, - concentrated in few hands: - those of the descendants of the established oligarchy, and those of a reduced number of merchants and landowners, these latter two grown richer by the forming of matrimonial ties with the former. Only between a quarter and a half of the individuals who comprised these rural-societes had access to the ownership ofland. The rest was made up of tenant- farmers, casual-workers, and the poor. All undergoing a new breed of property, that property associated with work, - a 'structural-proverty'; into which this study has attempted to penetrate. The division has been found to have been underlined, due to the inexistence of associations capable of representing collective interests, - the first of such movements oniy appeared during this same periodo it was within this context that universal-suffrage for men first appeared, which, in the three districts studied was so denaturalised as not to have produced a single democratic election whose voting resulted in its electors being representad by any freely- appointed parliamentarian. This being so, it has been necessary to investigase the totality of electoral resuits and returns of the three main groups, Conservative, Liberal, and Republican. In order to be able to exert such control over the popular vote, it was essential for the grand-propietors to create social-restrictions, managed by the local, party-bosses, who embodied the oligarchic sectors of the societies and who, via paternalistic measures, administered a goverment of authoritarian, repressive, charachter whose essence was the domination of local-counciis, and channels of communication with the word outside.

As investigações sobre o caciquismo em Portugal durante a Monarquia Constitucional são praticamente inexistentes, ao contrário de Espanha, onde, graças aos estudos levados a cabo há várias décadas, é possível traçar um quadro bastante preciso sobre a importância dos caciques na vida política da Restauração borbónica (1874-1923). Pelo contrário, em Portugal os trabalhos sobre as elites políticas da periferia têm sido enquadrados no âmbito dos municípios, recaindo a análise, essencialmente, sobre a origem social das vereações, negligenciando a atuação dos seus membros como influentes políticos e eleitorais. A dissertação que aqui se apresenta tenta romper com esta situação e tem como objetivo estudar a atividade política dos chefes de duas famílias - os Vaz Preto Geraldes e os Tavares de Almeida Proença - influentes na Beira Baixa, na segunda metade do século XIX. A estas duas famílias é tradicionalmente reconhecida uma grande preponderância política, constituindo duas fações, conhecidas por pretos e brancos, a quem são atribuídas o controlo das câmaras municipais, a indicação de governadores civis, a manipulação dos atos eleitorais, a escolha de deputados e o condicionamento da ação governativa nas suas zonas de influência. Apesar disso não há nenhum estudo sobre o seu real poder pelo que, aquilo que se propõe é analisar as origens desse poder, a forma como o exerciam, as redes clientelares que estabeleceram, as relações com o poder central, a evolução destas tendências políticas beirãs e as particularidades da vida política local.
Research on caciquismo in Portugal during the Constitutional Monarchy is practically inexistent, whereas in Spain it is possible to draw a fairly accurate picture of the importance of the caciques in the political life during the Borbonic Restoration period (1874-1923), thanks to studies that have been carried out for several decades. On the contrary, in Portugal the works about the political elites of the periphery have been framed in the context of the municipalities, essentially falling upon the analysis of the social origin of town-councillors, neglecting their role as political and electoral influents. The dissertation presented here tries to break with this situation and has the aim of studying the political activity of the chiefs of two families – the Vaz Preto Geraldes and the Tavares de Almeida Proença – influents in the Beira Baixa region, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Traditionally a major political preponderance is recognised to these two families which gave rise to two factions known as «pretos» (Blacks) and «brancos» (Whites), to whom the control of the municipal councils, the indication of the civil governor, the manipulation of the electoral acts, the choice of national members of parliament and the conditioning of government action in their areas of influence are attributed. In spite of the apparent evidences, there has not been published any study on their real power. Furthermore, what is proposed is the analysis of the origin of this power, how they exerted it, the patronage networks they established, the relations with the central power, the political evolution of these tendencies and the particularities of the local political life.

This thesis analyzes caciquismo as a temporally and spatially specific type of clientelistic relations in the Restoration Spain (1874 - 1923). First, the analysis primarily focuses on Spanish historiography of caciquismo/clientelism, its development and current situation of research including contemporary reception of the problem. Second, it also deals with the discussion of contemporary manifestations of caciquismo/clientelism in relation to the issues of terminology, corruption and political clientelism in modern Spain. In both cases the researcher sonsiders other important non-Spanish theoretical works. The thesis is based on interdisciplinary approach: besides of a historical perspective, it also brings to the topic view of anthropology, political science and sociology as well. The contribution of this thesis is refuting the concept according to that the contemporary critics (regeneracionists, Generation of '98 and Generation of '14) condemn caciquismo as a wholly negative manifestation of social interaction, which is based on a psychopathological and ethno-geographical perspective destined only to the Spanish nation, the idea, which is attributed to the contemporary critics of the Restoration Spain by the historians of caciquismo. Keywords: Spain - caciquismo - clientelism - patron-client...