The Role of Political Parties in Portuguese Democratic Consolidation

In this research note, I analyse the evolution of the Portuguese party system from a position of relative polarization to today's majoritarian system. Using indicators for net volatility and degree of fragmentation in the party system, I discuss three factors in this evolution: the importance of the appearance of a new party, the PRD; the decline of small parties, in part due to their failure to innovate; and the dynamics of presidential elections. I show that political parties were at the centre of the stabilization of the party system, and thus the consolidation of democracy. These developments were also conditioned by the semipresidential nature of the regime. Successive presidential elections have encouraged parties in the same bloc to join forces, albeit inconsistently. Future research on this topic should take into account the interplay between the Portuguese party system and the dynamics of presidential elections.