The Role of the Non-Partisan Movements in Democracy. The Portuguese Case
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Data
04/05/2020
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Global Journals
Resumo
- Since its birth in Greece, democracy has evolved mainly with regard to the role people or citizens must play in
the system. That evolution explains not only the various
modalities of democracy but also the formation of political
parties and their change over time. There is no democracy
without the parties, but the parties are not the owners of the
democratic system, and this encourages the appearance of
non-partisan movements that wish to be part of the power
play. In Portugal, during Salazar’s dictatorship, political parties
were forbidden. After returning to democracy, Portuguese law
currently does not allow regional or local parties, as political
parties need to act at the national level. However, the
Constitution stipulated that non-partisan groups had the right
to present lists to the lowest level of local power, the parish
council. Despite the official constraint, these groups accepted
the challenge, and their power and influence have increased
since the first local election in 1976, and it was no wonder that,
after the 1997 constitutional revision, the law had recognized
them the right to apply for all the organs of the local power.
Later, due to political dissents, some politicians decided to
constitute non-partisan movements to run against the party
that they had just abandoned. Nowadays, these groups rule
over 17 of the 308 municipal councils, namely Porto, the
second most important city in Portugal. Moreover, the nonpartisan movements are the third political force concerning
local power, ruling over more than 400 parish councils.
However, these groups cannot present lists to the central
power, the National Assembly. This paper has a twofold aim.
On the one hand, it analyses the evolution of the participation
of non-partisan movements in the electoral acts, their influence
in the political life in Portugal, their complaints against the
electoral law, and their fight trying to change it. On the other
hand, it sets out to explain the reaction of the parties towards
the non-partisan groups and reflects on the modifications that
these groups bring to democracy, adding a richness and depth to politics that has an impact on it.
Descrição
Global Journal of Human Social Sciences
Palavras-chave
POLITICAL SCIENCE, DEMOCRACY, POLITICAL SYSTEMS, PORTUGAL, CIÊNCIA POLÍTICA, DEMOCRACIA, SISTEMAS POLÍTICOS, PORTUGAL