Women’s Movements in Portugal and Spain: Democratic Processes and Policy Outcomes (original) (raw)

2017, Journal of Women in Politics & Policy

Portugal and Spain underwent dramatic transformations between 1974 and the early 1980s, transitioning from dictatorships to democracies. In this study, I explore why Portugal was faster than Spain in adopting key gender-rights policies (for instance, divorce, equal pay, state feminism) during the period in question. Bridging insights from the democratization, social-movement, and women’s studies literatures, I argue that Portugal’s accelerated policy path on women’s rights can be explained by three complex factors: (1) the nature of the revolutionary transition, which structured options for women’s movements and for institutional actors; (2) the configuration of movement-party alliances; and (3) supranational and international pressures to re-organize the state-civil society relationship. The study contributes to the engendering of democratization processes in Iberia by paying close attention to the interconnected agency of women’s movements with other political actors at a time of regime transformation.

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