L'organisation du pouvoir politique

Abstract

Thirty years after the April Revolution, Portugal is in the midst of the most successful democratic experience of its history. A product of the pact signed by the principal political parties and the Armed Forces Movement, the Portuguese constitution established a semi presidential system of power, which ensures that the principal organs of sovereignty exercise reciprocal control over each other. The presence of a unique political-military body — the Council of the Revolution — acted as a safety valve for the system during the transition period until 1982. Successive revisions of the constitution have perfected this architecture of power, while eliminating the ideological rhetoric inherited from the revolutionary period This article describes the functioning of the system on the basis of the evolution of electoral results, of the various arrangements attempted for forming governments, and of characteristics of the principal political parties. The growing tendency toward abstention is the object of particular consideration. The highly autonomous judicial system and the armed forces, increasingly under civ ilian control, is also be analyzed. In conclusion, the article considers the challenges of Portugal's immediate future, including the deepening of participatory democracy, the need to lessen both the bureaucratic weight and the excessive centralism of the state, and the quest for a system of justice that will be at once speedier and more efficient.