Introduction: Portugal, Forty-Four Years after the Revolution

Abstract

Portuguese Studies vol. 34 no. 1 (2018), 5–19© Modern Humanities Research Association 2018 Introduction: Portugal, Forty-Four Years after the Revolution Sebastián Royo Suffolk University, Boston, MA The year 2018 marks the forty-fourth anniversary of the Portuguese Revolution. After decades of relative isolation under an authoritarian regime, the success of the democratic transition paved the way for full membership of the European Community in 1986. The combined processes of democratization and European integration have shaped the country’s development during the last four decades, and to this day they are still crucial in policy-making and policy outcomes. This special volume reflects on the legacies of the revolution, and seeks to examine Portugal’s transformation over the last four decades. The pattern of Portuguese history has been described, crudely, as a graph shaped like an upside-down V. The graph rises, bumpily at times, through 600 years under the Romans, 700 years or so partly under the Moors, and a century of empire-building, to the peak of Portuguese power in the sixteenth century. The discovery of the largest gold deposits in South America at the end of the seventeenth century led to the Brazilian gold rush, with hundreds of thousands of Portuguese moving to the region to seek their fortune. After that, though, the riches of the American and African colonies were squandered in wars and a vast empire was gradually lost, leaving Portugal poor and powerless. The years following the assassination of the king in 1908 and the subsequent overturn of the monarchy were a period of political chaos, which led to forty years of authoritarian rule under Salazar and Caetano. After the 1974 Carnation Revolution, however, the line on the graph turned upward again. The democratic transition was turbulent and included a revolutionary period, but it culminated in the establishment of a parliamentary democracy. These developments were followed by the progressive return of the country to the international arena — having been relatively isolated during the dictatorship — bringing a new era of modernity. The purpose of this special volume is to reflect on the legacies of the revolutionary transition and examine what has happened in the country during the last four decades. The articles identify the basic changes in the economy and society of Portugal that occurred as a result of the democratization process. They also assess the impact that these changes have had on the ‘quality’ of Portuguese democracy, as well as the country’s economic and social development. In sum, Sebastián Royo 6 the main goal of the special volume is to reflect on how far Portugal has come since 1974, in order to better understand where it is headed as we near the start of the third decade of the twenty-first century. To this end, it provides a series of original analyses of the development of Portuguese politics, sociology and economics since the transition to democracy. Drawing on research by established scholars, the volume offers an up-to-date assessment of political and economic issues that will help us to understand contemporary Portugal. This Introduction outlines the main objectives of this special volume and provides a very brief snapshot of where Portugal stands forty-four years after the Revolution. While there are limitations to such a brief and static political and economic overview, this section of the Introduction is important in order to provide a record of where Portugal stands at the time of publication, as well as to present the economic and political context for the rest of the volume. In addition, this brief overview seeks to underscore the enormous social, political and economic progress that Portugal has made since the Revolution, and also to emphasize the challenges that the country still faces. Finally, it will also provide a starting point upon which new research on the topics addressed in this volume can be built.1 Objectives This special volume examines the impact and legacy of the revolution as regards the subsequent traits and the quality of democracy in Portugal. It addresses the following questions: how did the revolution contribute to reduce political and economic inequalities? what was its role in shaping party politics and in the strengthening of...