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Introduction -- 1. The study of interest groups -- 2. The system of interest representation in Portugal -- 3. Associational involvement and political participation in Portugal: Insights from a longitudinal and comparative study -- 4. Interest groups, political representation and citizen preferences -- 5. Seeking access to policy-makers: Interest group strategies -- 6. Interest groups in the parliamentary arena -- 7. Interest groups in the media -- 8. Portuguese interest groups and the European Union -- 9. Conclusions.

This study enriches and updates the theoretical debate on party change with detailed empirical research on Portuguese political parties. By examining the evolution of political parties in this recent democracy, this work raises new points about party transformations and provides insights relevant to all scholars of the political process.

In recent years, members of established political parties have received increased powers to select candidates and leaders. Several explanations have been advanced to account for this trend, focusing on the evolution of the political system, the characteristics of party systems or intra-party dynamics. The aim of this article is to examine the introduction of democratising reforms for leadership selection in Portuguese parties. Despite the high degree of centralisation and the low levels of internal participation, all governing parties have expanded members' rights during the last decade. The main findings suggest that party leaders have decided to change methods for leadership selection mainly for instrumental purposes in order to consolidate their internal power or gain electoral benefits. Moreover, this organisational transformation has had reduced effects on the internal party functioning. Regardless of these similarities, the data show that there are important differences between parties with regard to levels of participation and internal competition.

UID/CPO/04627/2013 PTDC/IVC-CPO/1864/2014. ; The paper examines the relationship between Euroscepticism and ideology in Western European countries and focuses on how this relationship is mediated by party system characteristics and partisanship. Additionally, we explore some distinctive national patterns in the relationship between Euroscepticism and ideology by focusing on four South European countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece), which despite their similar historical and social trajectories, as well as common experiences during the euro crisis in relation to the other Western European nations, they deviate in different ways from the European-wide pattern of interaction between ideology and Euroscepticism. Using data from the European Election Study of 2014 and the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, we show that the relationship between ideology and Euroscepticism can be heavily influenced by characteristics at the level of the party system, such as degree of party system polarization and the levels of supply of left-wing and right-wing Euroscepticism, as well as individual party legacies that can filter the ideology-Euroscepticism relationship through the influence of partisanship. Our findings highlight the importance of parties and party leadership in the future development of Euroscepticism within European polities as evidenced by the distinct national trajectories of Euroscepticism. Political entrepreneurs have the power to directly or indirectly politicize the issue of Europe and to help determine the overall level of Euroscepticism within a specific polity by providing cues to the electorate and mainly to their core partisans. ; publishersversion ; published

Inhaltsverzeichnis: Introduction / Marco Lisi, André Freire and Emmanouil Tsatsanis -- Bridging the gap? : the changing relationship between the socialists and radical left in Portugal / Elisabetta De Giorgi and João Cancela -- Politics in austerity : strategic interactions between social movements and institutional actors in Portugal, 2010-2015 / Guya Accornero and Pedro Ramos Pinto -- Democratic legitimacy and trust in political institutions in Portugal before and after the Great Recession : transitory or lasting effects? / Emmanouil Tsatsanis and Ana Belchior -- Political participation of the young versus old age cohorts before and after the Great Recession : Portugal in a comparative perspective, 2008-2016 / André Freire, Vicente Valentim, Viriato Queiroga and Francisco Graça -- Ideological and policy representation in Portugal before and after the Great Recession, 2008-2017 / André Freire and Augusta Correia -- Gender and political representation before and after the Great Recession, 2008-2017 / Ana Prata, André Freire and Sofia Serra-Silva -- Opening the 'black box' : intra-party cohesion on European integration in Portugal before and after the crisis / Marco Lisi and Vera Ramalhete -- Legislative activities before and after the Great Recession : an analysis of unemployment and social welfare issues / Enrico Borghetto and Marco Lisi -- Conclusions / Marco Lisi, André Freire and Emmanouil Tsatsanis.

UID/CPO/04627/2013 SFRH/BD/87140/2012 SFRH/BD/92180/2013 ; What affects the prospects of candidates in open intra-party elections? This research article examines the determinants of candidate performance in the first open party primaries conducted by LIVRE, a newly emerged Portuguese party, in 2015. This innovative process of candidate selection allowed individuals from outside the party not only to vote but also to run for office. Through the construction of an original dataset and the use of social network analysis, this study shows that centrality in the network of endorsements has a significant impact on the probability to be selected in party lists. Our findings shed additional light on the determinants of success in candidate selection and open new insights into the dynamics behind party primaries. ; preprint ; published

While the analysis of party models and types of party members has been widely discussed at the theoretical level, empirical research has not attracted similar attention. This study contributes to filling this gap by examining an understudied case, namely party members in Portuguese political parties. The key objective of this article is to make a contribution to the study of activism and dedication to the party, in a comparative perceptive, considering different types of parties. The survey applied was based on an on-line questionnaire conducted within the MAPP (Members and Activists of Political Parties) research network. The dataset included members of several parties ranging from typical catch-all parties (PS - Socialist Party; PSD - Social Democratic Party) to elite-based types (CDS-PP - Social Democratic Centre-Popular Party), as well as 'movement' party types (BE - Left Bloc; LIVRE). The study covers four main dimensions of party membership: party members' socio-demographic profile, ideological attitudes, reasons for joining the party, and activism levels and types. We show that party membership in Portugal follows similar trends to other advanced European democracies, albeit with important differences between parties. These results are an important barometer for measuring the quality of democracy, especially one as young as Portugal's. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion