The flight of the eagle: The charismatic leadership of Sá Carneiro in Portugal's transition to democracy (original) (raw)
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Portugal initiated the third wave of democratization in 1974, after forty years of authoritarian regime. The " rules of the game " which were agreed to in 1976 largely reflect the historical and political circumstances of that period, which was characterized by a strong presence of the military in the political life of the country, an ascendancy of the Left, and a strong cleavage concerning the future nature of the political regime. The major political development in the last forty years has arguably been the transformation of the Portuguese party system, which has in turn fundamentally contributed to the process of consolidation. Nevertheless, as we shall see, calls for institutional reform have been a constant during the democratic period, providing an indicator of the shifts in political consensus and the tensions that persist concerning the design and effects of Portuguese political institutions. In what follows, the main political institutions are presented, both in t...
In the academic arena, sadly the debate on the Protestant and Evangelical movements in Portugal is only now starting. Luis A. Santos is probably the first Portuguese to seriously engage in such a debate with his participation in the Conference in which he presented to the First International Colloquium of the Investigation of the History of Protestantism in Spain and Portugal, 26th to 28th of April 2000. However, the historical debate on the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements in Portugal has not yet been engaged before this dissertation. And both debates are relevant and should be interlinked for a proper interpretation of the Portuguese case of contemporary history of non-Catholic Christianity. Therefore, while the debate on the history of non-Catholic Christianity in Portugal is still in progress, the historian’s ultimate goal to reach an interpretation is obviously difficult to achieve. These debates need to be informed by the historical background. It is the aim of this research to provide such a background. Furthermore, my aim is also to explain why the establishment and development of non-Catholic Portuguese Christian denominations suffered much resistance until recently. For any person not acquainted with the Portuguese history and culture to understand the history of the Portuguese Evangelical Alliance and the Fraternal Association there is the need for that explanation. The impact of Catholicism in Portuguese historical and cultural process needs to be explained so to understand the truth of contemporary Christian history in Portugal. Moreover, my aim is also to capture and preserve data not yet gathered so as to provide it for future historical discussion on the Evangelical movement in general and the Portuguese Charismatic movement in particular. The other aim of this dissertation is to serve as an academic and data source for Portuguese and other scholars to discuss the actual trends of the Portuguese legal and social framework regarding religious matters.
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