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1. The statecraft of consensus democracies -- 2. The creation and development of consensus democracies -- 3. Constitutional change in consensus democracies -- 4. Society and civic culture -- 5. The Americanisation of electoral and party politics -- 6. Patterns of government in consensus democracies -- 7. The institutional performance of parliaments in consensus democracies -- 8. Regional and local patterns in consensus democracies -- 9. The changing political economy of consensus democracies -- 10. Consensus democracies as the model for European and global governance.

"Since the Treaty of the European Union was ratified in 1993, the European Union has become an important factor in an ever-increasing number of regimes of pooled sovereignty. This Handbook seeks to present a valuable guide to this new and unique system in the 21st century, allowing readers to obtain a better understanding of the emerging multilevel European governance system that links national polities to Europe and the global community. Adopting a pan-European approach, this handbook brings together the work of leading international academics to cover a wide range of topics such as: o the historical and theoretical background o the political systems and institutions of both the EU and its individual member nations o political parties and party systems o political elites o civil society and social movements in European politics o the political economy of Europe o public administration and policy-making o external policies of the EU. This is an invaluable and comprehensive resource for students, scholars, researchers and practitioners of the European Union, European Politics and Comparative Politics"--

Title Page -- Copyright page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Tables and Figures -- Tables -- Table 1.1- Phases of Democratization in Portugal -- Table 1.2- Assessing the Quality of Democracy -- Table 3.1- Government Bills and Approval Rates by Legislature, 1976-2012 -- Table 3.2- Private Members' Bills and Approval Rates by Legislature, 1976-2012 -- Table 3.3- Standing Committees of Parliament in the Twelfth Legislature, 2011-2012 -- Table 3.4- Governments in Portugal Since 1976 -- Table 4.1- Number of Civil Servants in Portugal, 1968-1982 -- Table 4.2- Level of Education of Public Administrators, June 2011 -- Table 4.3 Level of Education of Civil Servants in the EU-Sponsored Public Administrator Training Program, 2004-2009 -- Table 5.1- Evolution of the Portuguese Party System by Ideological Positioning in Legislative Elections since 1976 -- Table 5.2- Leadership, Party Conferences, and Membership Evolution of theSocialist Party Since 1974 -- Table 5.3- Leadership, Party Conferences, and Membership Evolution of the PSD Since 1974 -- Table 5.4- Leadership, Party Conferences, and Membership Evolution of the CDS-PP Since 1974 -- Table 5.5- Leadership, Party Conferences, and Membership Evolution of the PCP Since 1923 -- Table 5.6- Constituencies in the 2011 Legislative Elections -- Table 5.7- Legislative Elections in Portugal 1976-2011 -- Table 6.1- Composition of the Economic and Social Council, September 2012 -- Table 6.2- Social Concertration Agreements Since 1985 -- Table 9.1- Local Authorities, 2009 -- Table 9.2- Local Election Results, 29 September 2013 -- Table 9.3- Regional Election Results in Madeira, 1976-2011 -- Table 9.4- Regional Election Results in the Azores, 1976-2012 -- Table 11.1- Portuguese Contributions to International Peacekeeping Missions, December 2012 -- Figures -- Figure 1.1- Impact of Europeanization on EU Member States.

Portugal has been characterized by a late discontinuous democratization process. This contribution discusses the case of state and public administration reform in Portugal by using approaches from democratization, modernization and Europeanization theories. In order to understand the Portuguese case, the concept of 'neo‐patrimonialism' is used. We characterize Portuguese public administration as still having 'neo‐patrimonial' features, and therefore is still in transition from old closed‐minded practices such as particularistic decision making or clientelistic relationships to new open‐minded ones. The 'new' governance agenda combines new public management instruments and a growing flexibilization of public administration towards networks with non‐statal actors and has certainly led to some improvement in the quality of the services associated with public administration. Although is still too early to assess, top‐down and horizontal Europeanization processes, particularly since the late 1990s, may have contributed to a more reflexive approach in moving towards a more endogenous strategic vision based on the needs of the Portuguese state and public administration.

It is argued that the PS was from the outset (1973) a cartel party. It meant it concentrated on office-seeking than building a proper membership structure. The Revolution of Carnations on 25th of April 1975, led to the rise of the PS. For a long period of time the dominant personality of the party was Mario Soares and this had a negative impact on the party. Only after the election of Mario Soares to the presidency of the republic, did the leadership begin to modernize the structures of the party. Between 1985 and 1995, several leaders tried to reorient the party towards a more pragmatic less ideological profile. In 1995, the pragmatic modernizer Antonio Guterres became one of the first representatives of the Third Way. Today, the PS is a cartel party which is highly dependent on state funding and characterized by an office-seeking strategy. Adapted from the source document.