Practice question · Multiple choice
Spain is described as federal in practical operation but not in constitutional self-description. What concrete mechanism produces this operational federalism despite the omission of the federal label?
Hints
- Where do autonomous institutions take disputes when central and regional competences clash?
- Which formal federal mechanisms does the Spanish model actually lack in its central institutions?
Show the answer
B. A Constitutional Court arbitrating statutory jurisdiction
Why
Operational federalism relies on judicial adjudication of protected sub-state powers, not constitutional titling. Regions lack reform power or Senate vetoes, and asymmetry applies selectively rather than universally.
Practise The Autonomic State
The app has 5 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Political Science I is free to start.
More questions on The Autonomic State
- Why does the Statute of Autonomy make Spain hard to classify as federal or unitary?
- Sort each feature by whether it supports calling Spain FEDERAL or argues against it.
- The 1978 Constitution created the seventeen autonomous communities directly.
- Which are elements of the asymmetry in the Spanish territorial system?
- How many autonomous communities does Spain have?
- Complete the account of the autonomic state.
- Arrange the stages of the autonomic process in order.
- The asymmetry of the Spanish system was a design feature that made the 1978 settlement possible.