CONSOLIDATION AND PARTY GOVERNMENT IN SOUTHERN EUROPE

Among the essential conditions for a recently installed democracy to s urvive are that it reduce to a minimum or absorb the inconsistencies o f the first moments of transition and that it affirm its solidity vis- a-vis possible threats, whatever their origin. At the center of this p rocess a stable system of political intermediation, able to guarantee the governability of the country in question, must be generated. With these premises, the present article analyzes the topic of democratic c onsolidation in reference to the crucial role played by political part ies. Although the analysis focuses on Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greec e, the conclusions may be extrapolated to other European countries.