«The war of all against all» (an essay of the political instability before the Regeneration)

Abstract

 This article attemps to explain the causes for the political and governmental instability, during the establishing of the constitutional monarchy (1834-51), by beginning to examine the functioning of the political system. The first conclusion that may be drawn is that, independently of the conflicts that divided Portuguese society at that time, «the war of all against all» caused the inevitable absence of presupposed, essential elements of a representative system of government, that is, agreement concerning the fundamental law, pluralistic political culture and organized political parties. Due to the absence of these essential elements, a multitude of factions was created. These factions, by definition, tended to turn political competition into anarchy and established the systematic use of illegal and violent means in the struggle for power. Under these circumstances, all political power was seen as illegal which, in turn, legitimizes the illegalities and violence. This vicious circle, which was only broken by the constitutional pacification and the recomposition of the political parties carried out by the Regeneration was aggravated still, by the way the way the Crown exercised its arbitrary functions in Portuguese politics, an aspect that is also analysed here. Favouring the monopoly of government by the right wing, it blocked the alternation and rotation of the elites, in holding power, thus indirectly promoting the use of illegal or violent means of opposition.