Politics of Portugal

The national and regional governments are dominated by two political parties, Socialist Party (PS), a social democratic party that resembles British Labour or the German SPD, and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), a liberal-conservative party and member of the European Parliament's European People's Party group, which have similar basic policies in some respects: both are pro-Europe and support the market economy. Other parties with seats in the parliament are the Portuguese Communist Party, the CDS – People's Party, the Left Bloc and the Ecologist Party "The Greens". The Communists and the Greens are in coalition as the Unitary Democratic Coalition.

The coalition was supported by a majority in the Parliament of 132 MPs. The major opposition party was the Socialist Party (the party of the former Prime Minister José Sócrates) with 74 MPs. Also represented were the Portuguese Communist Party (16 MPs), "The Greens" (2 MPs) and the Left Bloc (8 MPs), all to the left of the governing coalition.

In the election of 2015, which the Social Democratic Party and People's Party contested as a coalition, Portugal Ahead, the government lost its absolute majority. The left-wing parties, the Socialist Party, Portuguese Communist Party, Ecologist Party "The Greens", and Left Bloc, argued that as they were willing to form a coalition which would have a majority in the assembly, they ought to be invited to form the government, while Portugal Ahead, as the largest grouping, argued that they should be invited to form the government. After three weeks of uncertainty, the President designated Passos Coelho as Prime Minister, which was followed by the formation of a minority government. Since then the left-wing parties, led by the Socialist Party, have formed the government.

The São Bento Palace, home to the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic, in Lisbon

The first constitution was created in 1822 (following the Liberal Revolution of 1820),[1] followed by a second in 1826, followed by a third in 1838 (after the Liberal Wars),[2] a fourth in 1911 (following the 5 October 1910 revolution),[2] and a fifth 1933 (after the 28 May 1926 coup d'état).[2]

Portugal's 25 April 1976 constitution reflected the country's 1974–76 move from authoritarian rule to provisional military government to a representative democracy with some initial Communist and left-wing influence. The military coup in 1974, which became known as the Carnation Revolution, was a result of multiple internal and external factors like the colonial wars that ended in removing the dictator, Marcelo Caetano, from power. The prospect of a communist takeover in Portugal generated considerable concern among the country's NATO allies. The revolution also led to the country abruptly abandoning its colonies overseas and to the return of an estimated 600,000 Portuguese citizens from abroad. The 1976 constitution, which defined Portugal as a "Republic... engaged in the formation of a classless society," was revised in 1982, 1989, 1992, 1997, 2001, and 2004.

The 1982 revision of the constitution placed the military under strict civilian control, trimmed the powers of the president, and abolished the Revolutionary Council (a non-elected committee with legislative veto powers). The country joined the European Union in 1986, beginning a path toward greater economic and political integration with its richer neighbors in Europe. The 1989 revision of the constitution eliminated much of the remaining Marxist rhetoric of the original document, abolished the communist-inspired "agrarian reform", and laid the groundwork for further privatization of nationalized firms and the government-owned communications media. The 1992 revision made it compatible with the Maastricht Treaty.

The current Portuguese constitution provides for progressive administrative decentralization and calls for future reorganization on a regional basis. The Azores and Madeira archipelagos have constitutionally mandated autonomous status. A regional autonomy statute promulgated in 1980 established the Government of the Autonomous Region of the Azores; the Government of the Autonomous Region of Madeira operates under a provisional autonomy statute in effect since 1976. Apart from the Azores and Madeira, the country is divided into 18 districts, each headed by a governor appointed by the Minister of Internal Administration. Macau, a former dependency, reverted to Chinese sovereignty in December 1999.

Government in Portugal is made up of three branches originally envisioned by enlightenment philosopher Baron de Montesquieu: executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch is separate and is designed to keep checks and balances on the others.

Summary of the 24 January 2016 Portuguesepresidential election results

Summary of the 6 October 2019 Assembly of the Republic elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	MPs					MPs %/ votes %
					2015	2019	±	%	±
	Socialist	1,903,687	36.35	4.0	86	108	22	46.96	9.6	1.29
	Social Democratic	1,454,283	27.77	[lower-alpha 1]	89	79	10	34.35	4.3	1.24
	Left Bloc	498,549	9.52	0.7	19	19	0	8.26	0.0	0.87
	Unitary Democratic Coalition	332,018	6.34	1.9	17	12	5	5.22	2.2	0.82
	People's	221,094	4.22	[lower-alpha 1]	18	5	13	2.17	5.6	0.51
	People–Animals–Nature	173,931	3.32	1.9	1	4	3	1.74	1.3	0.52
	CHEGA	67,502	1.29	N/A	N/A	1	N/A	0.43	N/A	0.33
	Liberal Initiative	67,443	1.29	N/A	N/A	1	N/A	0.43	N/A	0.33
	LIVRE	56,940	1.09	0.4	0	1	1	0.43	0.4	0.39
	Alliance	40,175	0.77	N/A	N/A	0	N/A	0.00	N/A	0.0
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	36,006	0.69	0.4	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
	React, Include, Recycle	35,169	0.67	N/A	N/A	0	N/A	0.00	N/A	0.0
	National Renovator	16,992	0.32	0.2	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
	Earth	12,888	0.25	0.2	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
	We, the Citizens!	12,346	0.24	0.2	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
	Democratic Republican	11,674	0.22	0.9	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
	United Party of Retirees and Pensioners	11,457	0.22	0.1	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
	Together for the People	10,552	0.20	0.1	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
	People's Monarchist	8,389	0.16	0.1	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
	Labour	8,271	0.16	[lower-alpha 2]	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
	Socialist Alternative Movement	3,243	0.06	[lower-alpha 2]	0	0	0	0.00	0.0	0.0
Total valid		4,982,609	95.14	1.1	230	230	0	100.00	0	—
Blank ballots		131,302	2.51	0.4
Invalid ballots		123,573	2.36	0.7
Total		5,237,484	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		10,777,258	48.60	7.3
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

The national Supreme Court is the court of last appeal. Military, administrative, and fiscal courts are designated as separate court categories. A thirteen-member Constitutional Court reviews the constitutionality of legislation.

18 districts (distritos, singular distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regiões autónomas, singular região autónoma): Aveiro, Açores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Évora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa, Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarém, Setúbal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu

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In 2012 and 2014 newspaper i and the polling agency Pitagórica conducted polls asking for the best Portuguese Prime Minister among the seven most recent ones (i.e. in the previous 30 years). The results revealed that the public clearly separated the seven evaluated Prime Ministers between the three best ones (each receiving more than 20% of the votes) and the four worst (each receiving from 4 to 8% of the votes).[4][5] In both polls, António Guterres (1995–2002) ranked as the best Prime Minister. Mário Soares (1976–78 and 1983–85) and Aníbal Cavaco Silva (1985–95) were also among the best Prime Ministers. On the other hand, José Manuel Durão Barroso (2002–04), Pedro Santana Lopes (2004–05), José Sócrates (2005–11) and Pedro Passos Coelho (2011–15, incumbent at the time of the polls) ranked as the worst Prime Ministers. Pedro Santana Lopes was the worst in the 2012 poll[6] while Barroso ranked as the worst in the 2014 one.[5] Together, the three best Prime Ministers ruled Portugal uninterruptedly from 1983 to 2002, while the four worst ruled from 2002 to 2015.

• Assembly of the Republic
• Foreign relations of Portugal
• Member of the European Parliament
• Sinistrisme
• Politics of France (similar system of Government)
• Politics of Romania (similar system of Government)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Politics of Portugal.

• Portuguese government website
• Associação portuguesa de ciência política
• Election results
• Comissão Nacional de Eleições