ABSTRACT

This chapter deals with the prospects of the system of (economic) interest intermediation and the transformation in relation to the European integration process. The Europeanization of the political system after 1986 had its considerable impact upon the formal and informal forms of interest intermediation. Political learning led to the adjustment of the Portuguese structures to the European policy agenda coming from Brussels. It is this transformation from particularistic-clientelistic to universalistic-legalistic and now even to a post-bureau-cratic-universalistic form of interest intermediation based on self-regulation and social dialogue that makes the Portuguese case so interesting. The Europeanization process has been one of the major factors in pushing the establishment of a system of interest intermediation. The long-term planning of government policies became easier with the integration with the major social partners. In spite of this fact, regime and group structuring is still very centralized and weakly institutionalized.