Concejo abierto

The concejo abierto (literally: "open council") is the regime under which the local government of some small Spanish municipalities operate. A case of direct democracy,[1] the system allows for the existence of two bodies: the Mayor and the asamblea vecinal ("neighboring assembly"), also known as concejo, formed by the all the electors of the municipality.[2] It is also used by other entities below the municipal level.[1]

The origins of the regime trace back to the Middle Ages, as a custom primarily originated in the Kingdoms of León and Castile, although it also extended to other territories as well, chiefly in the north of the Iberian Peninsula.[3] In many settlements, the concejo abierto was replaced by the "regimiento" system (also called consejo cerrado, "close council"), in which a decision-making body of limited size formed by judges or alcaldes as well as a number of regidores appointed by the King was contemplated; in the case of Castile, this process chiefly took place between 1345 and the later years of the rule of Alfonso XI.[4]

The contemporary form of the concejo abierto regime is recognised in the 1978 Spanish Constitution (Art. 140).[5] This system contrasts with the conventional regime used by most municipalities, in which the government authority (the ayuntamiento, often translated as city or municipal council in English) comprises in its most basic form the local councillors who form the plenary (elected in a party-list proportional representation voting), and the Mayor, elected in turn by the councillors among themselves.

See also

References
  1. Cosculluela Montaner 1987, p. 202.
  2. Cosculluela Montaner 1987, pp. 213-214.
  3. Cosculluela Montaner 1987, pp. 199-200.
  4. Monsalvo Antón 1990, pp. 359-360.
  5. Cosculluela Montaner 1987, p. 201.

Bibliography
  • Cosculluela Montaner, Luis (1987). "El Concejo Abierto". Reala. Revista de Estudios de la Administración Local y Autonómica. Madrid: Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública (234): 199–224. ISSN 1989-8975.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Monsalvo Antón, José María (1990). "La sociedad política en los concejos castellanos de la Meseta durante la época del Regimiento medieval. La distribución social del poder" (PDF). Concejos y ciudades en la Edad Media hispánica (II Congreso de la Fundación Sánchez-Albornoz, León, 1989). pp. 359–413.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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