Portuguese Democracy Under Austerity: Politics in Exceptional Times

Abstract

This chapter addresses the changes produced in the Portuguese political system in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis. While in many European countries traditional political parties have lost a large share of the votes to anti-systemic parties, Portugal has bucked the trend. However, the crisis has produced a major political change, otherwise impossible, given past antagonisms. A Socialist minority government is now supported in Parliament by the other two left-wing political parties (the Portuguese Communist Party and the Left Bloc). The alliance, in its second year at the time of writing, has been gradually reversing austerity measures, offering an interesting example of anti-austerity politics in (governmental) practice.