The history of another Spanish transition: From the Institute of Political Studies to the Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies

The Institute of Political Studies was created in 1939 as a branch of the Single francoist Party ("Movimiento Nacional"). Under the Franco regime it played a relevant role in research, the training of elites and providing advice to the Party and the Government, functions which required also the formation of an extensive library and document collection. Nevertheless, its deep links with the authoritarian regime made its survival impossible under the subsequent democratic regime following political transition in Spain. Therefore very specific reforms were adopted to allow a simultaneous radical institutional rupture (including the elimination of the Institute) and the continuation of its most characteristic functions, now in the hands of the new Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies.