A comparative perspective of Portuguese democracy

Abstract

In the past decade and a half, there have been some particularly important changes in Portugal. Without any alterations being made to the electoral system, a predominantly «majority» type democracy has been created, with a reduction in the number of political parties and the formation of single party governments. This transformation has been possible due to the volatility of the electorate. These phenomena can be partially explained by the way in which the revolution limited the adoption of party development strategies that might have consolidated the respective support bases.