Legislating cultural organisations under central government: evolution of the public entities organic laws in the Portuguese Ministry of Culture

Abstract

In the context of its autonomisation as a political sector, the organisational structure of the entities under central supervision of Culture in Portugal has been reconfigured by legislative reforms, impacting their formal autonomy. The compilation of the legal diplomas that shaped these organisations between 1974-2022 and their graphic conversion into chronologies allows for a longitudinal analysis of this sector’s central state administration. This article identifies phenomena and trends (organic concentration and deconcentration, prevalence of legal statutes, transfers of competences and legislative instability), analyses the possible causes of their evolution and problematises the implications for the autonomy of the organisations.