ABSTRACT
The institutional consequences of the Portuguese transition to democracy are far-reaching. The guarantee of meaningful sub-national representation and governance has opened up a significant new arena for expressing and resolving local and regional issues. The consequence of these outcomes—in which civilian oversight authority and the primacy of economic restructuring have dominated the policy agenda in succeeding order—has been disjointed intergovernmental relations. Certainly one cannot equate centralization of power and decision-making authority with authoritarian governance and decentralization of power and authority with more democratic regimes, on the other. Public officials and organizations serving as intermediaries between center and periphery are equally short of funds, technical staff, and influence. They have the capacity neither to respond to local needs nor leverage much policy coherency at the local level when instances arise of competing and overlapping activities. The most notable exception is in the perception that public transportation and telephone services had worsened in Lisbon and Porto since the revolution.
