Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Term derived from cacique (a word of Caribbean origin, meaning “chief), used in spain to denote the way in which notables manipulated local and national elections during the Restoration period (1874–1923), though such practices had first taken root even earlier. The caciques were typically men of economic and administrative influence, who often owned large estates and effectively instructed their tenants and employees how to vote. Critics of caciquismo , notably Joaquín Costa, believed that such clientism was preventing Spain from becoming a properly functioning liberal democracy. Although attempts were made in the 1900s to eradicate “boss rule,” this form of electoral corruption remained widespread under alfonso xiii . ... log in or subscribe to read full text