History IA- Spain's Transition to Democracy help!

[Benzene_ring]

Hey guys, I'm really interested in Spanish history so I have selected the topic of Spain's return to democracy for my internal assessment. My research question is "How did the death of Francisco Franco contribute to the return of democracy in Spain?"

 

I am just a little bit confused on how I should go about structuring my argument. It is not really a controversial topic, so should I talk about how there was already weakness in the dictatorship that Franco led, and how Juan Carlos I's appointment just helped put into place a movement that was already happening before Franco's death?

 

I found a lot of sources that talk about how the violence in the Spanish Civil War also turned a lot of citizens against Franco and his dictatorship, and I am mainly just confused how to go about structuring my IA.

 

Also, should I reword my question into a "To What Extent" question, like "To what extent did Franco's death contribute to the return of democracy in Spain?" , and then reference other reasons why the transition to democracy occurred?

 

 

Sorry if this post is confusing and I would really appreciate any help! 

Edited February 1, 2015 by Benzene_ring

[Thrashmaster]

I don't know anything about this topic, so I can't help with specifics, but I think you'll probably want to tweak your question a little. 

 

Your goal for the history IA is to write a question that is answerable at all costs. You actually want a question that is well-worn because the goal of the paper is to prove you can do research and apply it. So, you need a strong conclusion that's based off of your analysis which is based off of your evidence. This isn't about groundbreaking research but rather it's only about the paper.

 

So, having a question that "isn't really a controversial topic" is absolutely fine. What you need is one that you can prove. My favorite type is "To what extent were the goals of _____ reflected in the _______." The first blank is a leader, the second blank is a piece of legislation. Then you look at the speeches of the person and compare it to the actual bill and see if they match. This isn't controversial, but it's work that has to be research and analyze to prove they're similar.

 

So, your question about his death contributing to the return could be done, but it seems harder than I'd like mine to be. You'd either go too long because you've given yourself a huge scope or you'll oversimplify it with "Franco was in charge, and didn't like democracy. Then he died, so the people returned to democracy." You should probably find a new question that's answerable but still takes some analysis to come to a conclusion.