Portugal’s Leftist Government: From Sick Man to Poster Boy?

ABSTRACT

In 2015, for the first time in the history of Portuguese democracy, radical left parties relinquished their status as outsiders and lent their support to a Socialist Party cabinet. Defying the expectations of many, this government survived its first years. In fact, it did more than survive: while largely fulfilling the interparty agreements that originated it, the government has presided over positive economic developments and even managed to abide by EU budgetary rules. How was this possible? We show that the political solution found, as well as the policies and practices that sustain it, involve a form of a ‘contract parliamentarism’. This solution has allowed the parties to the left of the Socialists to obtain policy benefits without compromising their core identity or significantly hindering the support of their constituents.

KEYWORDS:

• Minority governments
• contract parliamentarism
• radical left
• PCP
• Bloco de Esquerda
• Portuguese Socialist Party

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to dedicate this article to the memory of Pedro Romano.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Available online at: https://www.dn.pt/DNMultimedia/DOCS+PDFS/Portugalper cent20Àper cent20Frenteper cent20-per cent20Agora,per cent20Portugalper cent20podeper cent20mais.pdf.

2. Poll by Aximage, 10 October 2015. Results available online at: https://goo.gl/JkMtem.

3. Ibid. 

4. The agreements (in Portuguese) are available online at: http://cdn.impresa.pt/14d/378/9700329/PCP.pdf; http://cdn.impresa.pt/284/9c2/9700333/BE.pdf; http://www.osverdes.pt/media/Parlamento/PosicaoConjuntaPS_PEV.pdf .

5. Ibid.

6. See, for instance, approval data gathered by Aximage’s political barometers at: http://www.erc.pt/pt/sondagens/publicitacao-de-sondagens/depositos-de-sondagens-de-2018/barometro-politico-de-fevereiro-2018.

7. See Eurosondagem poll, 18 October 2017: https://goo.gl/sSd4iF.

8. See 2016/2018 polling data collected by Aximage at http://www.erc.pt/pt/sondagens/publicitacao-de-sondagens/depositos-de-sondagens-de-2018/barometro-politico-de-fevereiro-2018.

9. Polls by Eurosondagem, November 2015 (https://goo.gl/hgZFr8) and December 2015 (https://goo.gl/L5vPU6) and Aximage, December 2015 (https://goo.gl/7S4Euf).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jorge M. Fernandes

Jorge M. Fernandes (PhD European University Institute 2013) is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. His research interests are representation, legislatures, political parties, and electoral systems. His work has appeared in Comparative Political Studies, European Journal of Political Research, and Party Politics, among others. He is co-editor of Iberian Legislatures in Comparative Perspective (Routledge).

Pedro C. Magalhães

Pedro C. Magalhães (PhD in Political Science, Ohio State University, 2003) is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. His research interests focus on public opinion, democratic attitudes, electoral behaviour, and judicial politics.

José Santana-Pereira

José Santana-Pereira (PhD in Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute, 2012) is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Policy, ISCTE-Lisbon University Institute, Portugal, and a Researcher at CIES-Lisbon University Institute, Portugal. His research focuses on issues such as media systems, media effects on public opinion, campaigns, and voting behaviour.