ABSTRACT
The political, social and economic problems facing that society are the result of the advances of and reaction to the revolutionary process unleashed by the military, and specifically the Movimento das Forcas Armadas. While addressing the question of what the perspectives are for the consolidation of democracy in Portugal, Professor Thomas C. Bruneau’s essay points to the tenuous character of the gains made in that country since the April 1974 revolution, and the ambiguities and contradictions of the present situation. Unlike Spain which had a controlled break with the past, Portugal cut dramatically with the Estado Novo, and in that rupture the military played a dominant role. Major political and social actors in Portugal have been waging a pitched battle not only over what institutional structures should be used to encourage and channel popular participation but also over the question of from where those structures should draw their legitimacy.
