From Problematic Laggard to Star of the South? The Comparative Significance of the Portuguese Case

Abstract

Abstract This chapter identifies points of major comparative and theoretical importance of the Portuguese case and reviews hypotheses that are potentially useful for explaining the country’s unusual record of performance and democratic practice. The chapter also considers alternative frames of reference that have been used to compare the Portuguese case with others. Portugal’s status as the pioneer of the worldwide Third Wave of democratization in 1974 marked a clear break in the country’s political development, even though the pre-democratization past continues to exert its influence in various ways. With the functioning of the institutions and political culture put in place by the 1974 Carnation Revolution and its aftermath, Portugal achieved remarkable progress on many dimensions of performance, such as political inclusion, and can be viewed as an unusually successful case. Indeed, according to some indicators, such as women’s participation in the labour force and certain types of cultural tastes, Portuguese data has come closer to the levels found in Northern Europe than the ones from the rest of Southern Europe. This chapters examines several potential explanations for this recent record, while offering important conceptual and theoretical lessons that extend well beyond the Portuguese case.