Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados vol. 32 n. 2 Rio de Janeiro 1989
Abstract
What are the causes of democratic instability and the subsequent emergence of authoritarian regimes? Two world systems theories of the rise of authoritarian regimes are reviewed and criticized; a case study of the 1926, democratic collapse in Portugal is examined from these two perspectives; and based on the analysis of the Portuguese collapse, a third explanation of democratic instability in a world system context is offered. The thesis is that a country which exists in a contradictory position in the world economy (the semiperiphery) has a more highly disarticulated economy than core or peripheral countries; that such a disarticulated economic fosters irreconciliable conflict among the respective fractions of the bourgeoisie; and the attendant intrabourgeois disunity promotes democratic instability and even democratic collapse. Thus, we should find greater challenges to democratic stability in countries located in the semiperiphery.
Instabilidade Democrática em Países Semiperiféricos: O Caso de Portugal
Português do Brasil
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