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According to conventional wisdom about contemporary democratization, when democratic transitions and pacts collide, contradictory outcomes ensue. While they constitute a brilliant strategy for introducing democracy after the demise of an authoritarian regime, pacts compromise the quality of the emerging democracy by marginalizing mass actors such as the labor movement. Evidence from Spain, the paradigmatic example of a democracy built on pacts, challenges these assumptions. Moreover, the critical variables preventing the marginalization of labor in a pacted democratic transition are mostly historical and institutional; they include the inclusive character of the bargaining cartel, the strength of the left-wing parties that negotiate the transition, and labor's political resources in relation to contending social forces.