Portugal's Government

Government research papers on Portugal illustrate that Portugal has gone through a series of changes while on the road to democracy. Paper Masters will help explain the structure or history of the government of Portugal in a custom research paper.

The Portuguese political system has undergone a series of phases from the period of transition to democracy to the present.After the military coup of April 25, 1974, the promulgation of the Portuguese Constitution began. While it is true that the electoral system was born before the constitution itself, many historians contend that the electoral system is indeed the political system of Portugal. This is primarily because the electoral system conditions the political system structurally as well as politically. Following the 1975 coup and the initiation of the Constitution, politics in Portugal began moving away from monarchy established by Salazar in 1932 and moving toward a presidential government.

As noted by a research paper that explored the government in Portugal: The system of government established with the 1976 Constitution was characterized by a dual legitimacy, based on universal suffrage in electing the Parliament and the president of the republic and on the government's dual accountability to these two offices. For this reason, it has been called a semipresidential system.

Over the past twenty years the Portuguese political system has been marked by a process of rationalization; an initially revolutionary source of legitimacy was progressively replaced by an electoral one.

• Portugal, which is now governed under the post-revolution Constitution of 1976 has established a parliamentary republic.
• The president is elected by universal suffrage to a five-year term.
• The President represents the nation, serves as commander in chief of the Armed Forces, appoints the Prime Minister, sends messages to parliament and convenes or dissolves it as necessary.

It is this electoral power that gives the government its source of political legitimacy. For Portugal, the establishment of a democracy has been a difficult struggle.

Legislation for the parliamentary republic is handled by the unicameral 230-member Assembly. Members of the legislation are elected to four years terms under a system of proportional representation. The Constitution was amended in 1982 and 1989 to include the council of the republic-which consists of representative from the political parties, a military defense board and a constitutional tribunal-in the legislative process.