European Portugal : The Difficult Road to Sustainable Democracy

This book analyses the Europeanization of the Portuguese political system in the context of globalization and the so-called Third Wave of Democratization. It pursues the thesis that democratization and Europeanization are two intertwined processes in the case of Portugal. Integration into the European Union has changed considerably the rationalities within the political structures of the Portuguese political system. Furthermore, the author stresses the necessity to encourage greater political participation of the population and to evolve towards a project of sustainable democracy. "This book analyses the Europeanisation of the Portuguese political system in the context of globalisation and the so-called third wave of democratisation. It pursues the thesis that democratisation and Europeanisation are two intertwined processes in the case of Portugal. Integration into the European Union has changed considerably the rationalities within the political structures of the Portuguese political system. Furthermore, the author stresses the necessity to encourage greater political participation of the population at all levels of the political system by devizing more participatory institutions. Such a project can be only a longterm one, but it has already been initiated in Portugal. The project of sustainable democracy is presented as a clear alternative to a more formal definition of democracy. It implies that democratic structures and cultures become strong over time and sustain democratic patterns of behaviour in periods of crisis. Such a project is linked to the necessity of reinforcing the already existing people- and environment-oriented public policies of the Portuguese government."--Jacket Front Matter....Pages i-xiv The Rise of Democratisation Studies....Pages 1-15 The Portuguese Political System: From Democratic Transition to Europeanisation....Pages 16-36 Structuring the Political System....Pages 37-58 The Local Political System....Pages 59-79 The Political Parties....Pages 80-110 Interest Groups....Pages 111-126 The Implementation of Public Policies....Pages 127-145 The Emergence of Civil Society....Pages 146-160 Portugal and the European Union....Pages 161-176 Democratisation, Political Institutionalisation and Political Culture: Some Conclusions....Pages 177-183 Back Matter....Pages 184-217