On 25 April 1974, the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) occupied strategic locations in the city of Lisbon and staged a coup d’état that, in less than 24 hours, toppled the long-lasting Portuguese dictatorship. The population, which was following the events through the MFA’s radio bulletins, took to the streets to quickly join the military and celebrated with euphoria the success of the Regime End operation and the conquest of freedom.

At that time, Portugal was an “anachronistic” country, as the historian António Reis recalls. Condemned by the United Nations, the war in Africa against the liberation movements had been dragging on since 1961 and heightened the country’s international isolation. “The oldest of the last three dictatorships in non-Communist Europe saw that its economy was increasingly dependent on European markets”, to which was added “a social dynamic that was difficult to reconcile with the conservative traditionalism of rigidly authoritarian and repressive institutions”. [1]1 — Reis, A. (1994). “Introdução”. A: Reis, A. (dir.). Portugal: 20 anos de Democracia. Lisbon: Círculo de Leitores, p. 8. The 25th of April and the revolutionary process that followed it marked a profound break with this reality.

A forerunner of the “third wave” of democratisation, [2]2 — Huntington, S. P. (1991). The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late 20th Century. University of Oklahoma Press. Portugal has attracted particular interest in academic circles, especially from a comparative perspective: after 48 years of dictatorship, the Portuguese transition came about through a rupture. A number of studies have sought to analyse the structural conditions and the role played by different agents to account for the regime transition processes. António Costa Pinto highlights this aspect when he says: “While toppling the Estado Novo was part of a cycle in which the southern European dictatorships were eradicated, the ‘revolutionary period’ had certain specific features that defined the very nature of the Portuguese ‘defascistisation’ movement.” [3]3 — Pinto, A. C. (1999). “Saneamentos Políticos e Movimentos Radicais de Direita na Transição para a Democracia, 1974-1976”. A: Portugal e a Transição para a Democracia (1974-1976). Lisbon: Fundação Mário Soares e IHC/NOVA-FCSH, p. 29.

On the occasion of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Portuguese Revolution of 1974-1975, within this special issue of the IDEES magazine, we present a special dossier with eight reflections which, from different viewpoints and adding an international dimension, offer analytic tools and help us improve our understanding of the revolutionary process, its main agents and legacies. The topics covered include the Revolution’s international and geopolitical context (Ana Mónica Fonseca, Irene Flunser Pimentel, Rafael Duran Muñoz), its international impact (Gabriel Magalhães, Pedro Ponte e Sousa), electoral behaviour and political attitudes during the first free elections (José Santana Pereira and Filipa Raimundo), Mário Soares’ diplomacy during the Revolution (Pedro Marques Gomes), and the legacies of the transition towards democracy (António Costa Pinto).

Today, democracies face complex challenges. The latest Democracy Report, published in 2024 by the V-Dem Institute, [4]4 — Nord, M.; Lundstedt, M.; Altman, D.; Angiolillo, F.; Borella, C.; Fernandes, T.; Gastaldi, L.; Good God, A.; Natsika, N.; Lindberg; S. I. (2024). Democracy Report 2024: Democracy Winning and Losing at the Ballot. Göteborg: Institut V-Dem, Universitat de Göteborg. paints a global picture of marked erosion of democracy, coupled with a dominant trend towards autocratisation: (i) the level of democracy of the average world citizen fell in 2023 to levels not seen since 1985; (ii) 71% of the world’s population lives in autocracies; and (iii) the level of democracy measured with respect to the relative size of the economy is below the level recorded in 1973, before the Portuguese Revolution.

More than 60 countries will be holding elections during 2024, and in almost half of them, the levels of democracy have worsened. [5]5 — Nord, M., et al. (2024). Democracy Report 2024: Democracy Winning and Losing at the Ballot. Reflection on the challenges that democracies are facing today, proposed in this IDEES magazine special issue, is inseparable from an understanding of their past and, in particular, of the dynamics that marked the democratisation processes and their subsequent erosion or autocratisation.

• References

  1 —

  Reis, A. (1994). “Introdução”. A: Reis, A. (dir.). Portugal: 20 anos de Democracia. Lisbon: Círculo de Leitores, p. 8.

  2 —

  Huntington, S. P. (1991). The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late 20th Century. University of Oklahoma Press.

  3 —

  Pinto, A. C. (1999). “Saneamentos Políticos e Movimentos Radicais de Direita na Transição para a Democracia, 1974-1976”. A: Portugal e a Transição para a Democracia (1974-1976). Lisbon: Fundação Mário Soares e IHC/NOVA-FCSH, p. 29.

  4 —

  Nord, M.; Lundstedt, M.; Altman, D.; Angiolillo, F.; Borella, C.; Fernandes, T.; Gastaldi, L.; Good God, A.; Natsika, N.; Lindberg; S. I. (2024). Democracy Report 2024: Democracy Winning and Losing at the Ballot. Göteborg: Institut V-Dem, Universitat de Göteborg.

  5 —

  Nord, M., et al. (2024). Democracy Report 2024: Democracy Winning and Losing at the Ballot.