The revolution in local government: mayors in Portugal before and after 1974

Abstract

In 1974, Portugal's Carnation Revolution, initiated by the military, received huge popular support. Army officers, mostly of the rank of captain, started the Revolution, but then the politicians took over. While it was largely a ‘top down’ revolution, at the local government level ordinary people assumed control. In this article we consider those who made up the local elites before the Revolution, during the transition period that followed, and thereafter. We compare the local elites in Portugal during Salazar's dictatorship with those under the Democratic regime, using a database of 6,000 entries containing details of 3,102 mayors and deputy mayors and 402 civil governors who held office between 1936 and 2013. Our main conclusions are that during the transition period the elite who had ruled under Salazar were almost completely replaced. A new group, from different professions and social backgrounds, took up the reins of local government. The Revolution produced a population willing to participate in the new order and take on roles within local government, but they did not always retain their seats after the first democratic elections.

Inovações no poder local em Portugal: contribuições para a democracia local

“…After the 1974 Carnation Revolution, Portugal's transition to democracy was a revolutionary rupture process (Schmitter, O'Donnel, andWhitehead, 1986, Chilcote et al, 1990), in which local elites were completely replaced, both individually and regarding social backgrounds (Almeida, 2017a). Popular mobilisation and civic participation were the strongest in Portuguese history during the 1974-1976 transition period.…”

“…During those two effervescent years, mayors and local councils were replaced with administrative committees composed of volunteers selected locally and officially appointed by the Ministry of the Interior (Almeida, 2013b;Almeida, 2017a). According to Tiago Fernandes, this capacity for popular groups to self-organise is typical of revolutionary pathways to democracy that lead to more inclusive democracies and to greater opportunities and resources for civic action of common people during the subsequent democratic regime.…”

“…An extensive research was done on transparency in the Portuguese local government. There was a pre-existing database with all 308 municipalities, with mayors from 1936 to 2013, 1 which had been built to study the history of local government in Portugal (Almeida 2013b;Almeida, 2014) and the regime transition from the Estado Novo to Democracy (Almeida, 2017a). It was then improved to gather more data and to analyse attraction strategies for people and companies, as well as central government policies for the interior regions (Almeida, 2017b).…”

Samorząd w państwach autorytarnych w okresie międzywojennym. Próba analizy

“…Z kolei w Portugalii burmistrzowie mieli pełnić swoje funkcje przez sześć lat. Mogli być przy tym mianowani na więcej niż jedną kadencję 43 . W 1940 roku kodeksem administracyjnym wydłużono kadencję do ośmiu lat, głównie dlatego że trudno było znaleźć osoby chętne do objęcia stanowiska burmistrza, szczególnie w kraju, w którym od osoby pełniącej tę funkcję oczekiwano odpowiednich kwalifikacji.…”

Fighting depopulation in Portugal: Local and central government policies in times of crisis

“…Their job requirements consisted of administrative duties and police work. There was no autonomy involved, neither financial nor regarding political decision (Almeida, 2017b).…”