A Portuguese Miracle: The Politics of the First Phase of Covid-19 in Portugal

Patrícia Silva, Edna Costa and João Moniz

South European Society and Politics, 2022, vol. 27, issue 4, 521-549

Abstract: Facing the first phase of the pandemic with exceptionally low casualties, Portugal was internationally praised as an outstanding example, particularly when compared to other Southern European countries. This article depicts how the pandemic crisis erupted in Portugal and how the Socialist government, the opposition and, to an important degree, the head of state responded to its demands, curbing the initial spread of the infection. The government ensured considerable levels of support from citizens and from other parties. The official opposition maintained its pragmatic and conciliatory tone during the confinement stages of the pandemic. It is argued that lower levels of political polarisation and a climate of cross-party collaboration are key factors in understanding the ‘Portuguese miracle’.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/13608746.2021.1979741 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:fsesxx:v:27:y:2022:i:4:p:521-549

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/fses20

DOI: 10.1080/13608746.2021.1979741

Access Statistics for this article

South European Society and Politics is currently edited by Susannah Verney

More articles in South European Society and Politics from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().