Aprender a discrepar. La clave, el debate televisivo y la formación de una cultura política democrática en España (1976-1985)

Abstract

La clave (1976-1985), the first live debate TV programme in Spain, directed and conducted by José Luis Balbín, was an innovative programme that gave a voice to groups of people who had historically been subjected to discrimination and (enabled the visualization of) fashioned the aspirations, sensitivities, claims and pressure of Spanish society. For the first time, television raised unprecedented (unthinkable) issues such as death penalty, drugs, abortion, homosexuality, the Church, the Army or the Civil War, eroding the social values that Francoism had instilled in Spanish society for about forty years of dictatorship. Throughout the 408 programmes, a total of 2,708 guests, among whom there were some of the most outstanding (influential) personalities of Spanish political scene (Adolfo Suárez, Manuel Fraga, Santiago Carrillo, Enrique Tierno Galván, Federica Montseny, Jordi Pujol, Gil Robles, Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta…) and of international scope, such as Olof Palme, Neil Armstrong, Mário Soares, Truman Capote o J. K. Galbraith. Such cultural diversity and pluralism entailed a demolishing principle of Francoism: no guest was ever accused by their political ideas. This thesis is based on the analysis of extensive archival documentation, media sources, RTVE official publications, and the last interview given by José Luis Balbín, to defend the hypothesis that La clave, throughout its TV debates, fostered a democratic political culture in the Spanish Transition.