n Spain,
as in France and Italy, the parliamentary system is nominally in (p. 616)
operation; but, as in the countries mentioned, the multiplicity and
instability of party groups render the workings of the system totally
different from what they are in Great Britain. Ministries are
invariably composite rather than homogeneous in political complexion,
with the consequence that they are unable to present a solid front or
long to retain their hold upon the nation's confidence.

V. THE CORTES

*681. The Senate: Composition.*--The legislative powers of the kingdom
are vested in "the Cortes, together with the king." The Cortes
consists of two co-ordinate chambers, the Senate and the Congress of
Deputies. In the composition of the Senate the prescriptive,
appointive, and elective principles are curiously intertwined, the
chamber containing one group of men who are members in their own
right, another who are appointed by the crown and sit for life, and a
third who are elected by the corporations of the state and by the
large taxpayers. In number the first two categories jointly may not
exceed 180; the third is fixed definitely at that figure. In point of
fact the life senators nominated by the crown number 100, while the
quota of prescriptive members varies considerably. This last-mentioned
group comprises grown sons of the sovereign and of the heir-presumptive;
the admirals of the navy and the captains-general of the army; the
patriarch of the Indies and the archbishops; the presidents of the
Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Accounts, and the
Supreme Councils of War and Marine, after two years of service; and
grandees of Spain[854] in their own right, who are not subjects of
another power and who have a proved yearly income of 60,000 pesetas
($12,000) derived from real property of their own, or from rights
legally equivalent to real property.[855]

[Footnote 854: The rank of grandee (_grande_) is a
dignity conferred by the sovereign, either for life
or as an hereditary honor.]

[Footnote 855: Art. 21. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
II., 204].

*682. Appointment and Election of Senators.*--Appointment of senators by
the crown is made by special decree, in which must be stated the
grounds upon which each appointment is based. In the selection of
appointees the sovereign is not entirely free, but since the consti