Portugal at the Polls : in 2002

Portugal at the Polls is a timely evaluation of the quality of Portuguese democracy. Measuring both political attitudes and electoral behavior, this volume addresses one of the most central features of democracy, the relationship between citizens and institutions. Editors Andre Freire, Marina Costa Lobo, and Pedro Magalhaes take full advantage of the first Portuguese post-electoral academic survey to complete this study. Moreover, the study theoretically analyzes the contribution of behavioral and political attitudes to the particular 2002 election as well as Portuguese democratic politics in general. While each chapter explores specific details, the chapters generally fall into one of two over arching themes. The first theme contextualizes Portugal in a greater trend of elections being based on candidate image and economic performance at the cost of long-term social goals. The second theme incorporates Portugal into recent scholarship of other industrial democracies, which has amassed an important body of evidence about growing political dissatisfaction and disengagement of citizens. The editors have synthesized the important but fragmentary scholarship addressing Portugal's "political malaise".Portugal at the Polls is essential reading for any scholar interested in contemporary Portuguese politics.