The Social Democratic Party ( pt, Partido Social Democrata, ; PSD) is a
liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
political party in Portugal. Commonly known by its colloquial
initials PSD, on
ballot papers its initials appear as its official form PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, the Democratic People's Party (, PPD). A party of the
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
,
the PSD is one of the two
major parties in
Portuguese politics, its rival being the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...
(PS) on the
centre-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...
.
The PSD was founded in 1974, two weeks after the
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
and in 1976 adopted its current name. In 1979, the PSD allied with centre-right parties to form the
Democratic Alliance and won
that year's election. After the
1983 general election, the party formed a
grand coalition with the Socialist Party, known as the
Central Bloc
Central Bloc () is the name given in Portugal to the grand coalition of the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries ...
, before winning the
1985 general election under new leader
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Order of Christ (Portugal), GCC, Order of Liberty, GColL, Order of Prince Henry, GColIH (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist who served as the 19th president of Portugal, in office from 9 March 2006 to 9 ...
, who shifted the party to the right. Cavaco Silva served as
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
for ten years, instituting major
economic liberalisation and winning two
landslide victories. After he stepped down, the PSD lost the
1995 election. The party was returned to power under
José Manuel Durão Barroso in
2002, but was defeated in the
2005 election. The party was able to return to power after the
2011 elections and four years later was able to win a plurality in the
2015 legislative election, winning 107 seats in the
Assembly of the Republic in alliance with the
CDS – People's Party
The CDS – People's Party ( pt, CDS – Partido Popular, derived from ''Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular'', CDS–PP) , but being unable to form a
minority government. The current leader,
Luís Montenegro
Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (born 16 February 1973) is a Portuguese politician who is the President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was a member of the Assembly of the Republic from the Aveiro District from 2002 t ...
was elected on 28 May 2022.
Originally a
social-democratic
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
party, the PSD became the main
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
,
conservative party in Portugal.
The PSD is a member of the
European People's Party and the
Centrist Democrat International. Until 1996, the PSD belonged to the
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and
Liberal International
Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...
.
The party publishes the weekly ''
Povo Livre
''Povo Livre'' (lit. ''Free People'') is a Portuguese language, Portuguese weekly newspaper published in Portugal.
History and profile
''Povo Livre'' was established shortly after the Portuguese press was freed from censorship on 25 March 1974. T ...
'' (''Free People'') newspaper.
History
Foundation
The Social Democratic Party was born on 6 May 1974, when
Francisco Sá Carneiro,
Francisco Pinto Balsemão
Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983.
Background
He is the son of Henrique Patrício ...
and
Joaquim Magalhães Mota publicly announced the formation of what was then called the PPD, the Democratic People's Party ( pt, Partido Popular Democrático). On 15 May, the party's first headquarters were inaugurated in
Largo do Rato, Lisbon. This was followed, on 24 June, by the formation of the first Political Committee, consisting of
Francisco Sá Carneiro,
Francisco Pinto Balsemão
Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983.
Background
He is the son of Henrique Patrício ...
,
Joaquim Magalhães Mota,
Barbosa de Melo,
Mota Pinto
Carlos Alberto da Mota Pinto, GCC, GCIP, (; Pombal, 25 July 1936 – Coimbra, 7 May 1985) was a Portuguese professor and politician.
Career
He graduated as a licentiate in law and doctorate in judicial sciences from the Faculty of Law ...
,
Montalvão Machado,
Miguel Veiga,
Ferreira Júnior,
António Carlos Lima,
António Salazar Silva,
Jorge Correia da Cunha,
Jorge Figueiredo Dias
Jorge is a Spanish Language, Spanish and Portuguese Language, Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth ...
and
Jorge Sá Borges.
The publication was founded, its first issue being published on 13 July 1974, led by its first two directors,
Manuel Alegria and
Rui Machete. The PPD's first major meeting was held in the , Lisbon, on 25 October, and a month later the party's first official congress took place.
On 17 January 1975, 6300 signatures were sent to the Supreme Court so that the party could be approved as a legitimate political entity, which happened a mere eight days later.
In 1975, the PPD applied unsuccessfully to join the
Socialist International
The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisation ...
,
with its membership attempt vetoed by the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...
.
Alberto João Jardim was the co-founder of the
Madeira
)
, anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira")
, song_type = Regional anthem
, image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg
, map_alt=Location of Madeira
, map_caption=Location of Madeira
, subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
n branch of the PSD, and governed the autonomous archipelago for decades, running as a member of the party.
Democratic Alliance governments
The Social Democratic Party participated in a number of coalition governments in Portugal between 1974 and 1976, following the
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
. This is seen as a transitional period in Portuguese politics, in which political institutions were built and took time to stabilize. In 1979, the PSD formed an electoral alliance, known as the
Democratic Alliance (AD), with the Democratic and Social Centre (now called the
People's Party, CDS-PP) and a couple of smaller right-wing parties. The AD won the parliamentary elections towards the end of 1979, and the PSD leader,
Francisco Sá Carneiro, became Prime Minister. The PSD would be part of all governments until 1995. The AD increased its parliamentary majority in new elections called for 1980, but was devastated by the death of Sá Caneiro in an air crash on 4 December 1980.
Francisco Pinto Balsemão
Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983.
Background
He is the son of Henrique Patrício ...
took over the leadership of both the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance, as well as the Prime Ministership, but lacking Sá Carneiro's charisma, he was unable to rally popular support.
The Democratic Alliance was dissolved in 1983, and in parliamentary elections that year, the PSD lost to the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...
(PS). Falling short of a majority, however, the Socialists formed a
grand coalition, known as the
Central Bloc
Central Bloc () is the name given in Portugal to the grand coalition of the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries ...
, with the PSD. Many right-wingers in the PSD, including
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Order of Christ (Portugal), GCC, Order of Liberty, GColL, Order of Prince Henry, GColIH (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist who served as the 19th president of Portugal, in office from 9 March 2006 to 9 ...
, opposed participation in the PS-led government, and so, when Cavaco Silva was elected leader of the party on 2 June 1985, the coalition was doomed.
Cavaco Silva governments (1985–1995)
The PSD won a plurality (but not a majority) in the
general election of 1985, and Cavaco Silva became Prime Minister.
Economic liberalization and tax cuts ushered in several years of economic growth. After a motion of no confidence was approved, early elections were called for
July 1987, which resulted in a landslide victory for the PSD, who captured 50.2 percent of the popular vote and 148 of the 250 parliamentary seats – the first time that any political party in Portugal had mustered an absolute majority in a free election. While the PSD had been very popular going into the election, the size of its victory far exceeded the party's most optimistic projections. A strong economy, growing above 7% in 1988, ushered a big convergence between Portugal and other EU countries.
The PSD won a historic third term in the
1991 election, with a slightly higher vote share than four years earlier. However, continuing high levels of unemployment and a lower economy, after 1993, eroded the popularity of the Cavaco Silva government.
Post-Cavaco Silva
Cavaco Silva stepped down as leader in January 1995. In the following month, in the PSD congress, the party elected
Fernando Nogueira as leader. The PSD lost the
1995 election to the PS. In 1996, Cavaco Silva ran for the presidency of the republic, but he failed to defeat former Lisbon Mayor
Jorge Sampaio. Sampaio won 53.9% to Cavaco's 46.1%. The party, for the first time in 16 years, was out of government. The party was again defeated in the
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
elections. The party, however, made a big comeback in the
2001 local elections by winning several cities, like
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
,
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...
and
Sintra
Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of . Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populate ...
, from the PS and, some, against all odds and predictions. This PSD result led the then
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
António Guterres
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Soci ...
(PS) to resign and the country was led to snap general elections on
March 2002.
First PSD/CDS coalition government (2002-2005)
The PSD made a comeback in
2002 by defeating the PS by 40% to 38% margin, however, despite falling short of a majority, the PSD won enough seats to form a coalition with the CDS-PP, and the PSD leader,
José Manuel Durão Barroso, became Prime Minister. Durão Barroso later resigned his post to become President of the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
, leaving the way for
Pedro Santana Lopes, a man with whom he was frequently at odds, to become leader of the party and Prime Minister.
Back in opposition (2005–2011)
In the
parliamentary election held on 20 February 2005, Santana Lopes led the PSD to its worst defeat since 1983. With a negative swing of more than 12% percent, the party won only 75 seats, a loss of 30. The rival Socialist Party had won an
absolute majority
A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...
, and remained in government after the
2009 parliamentary election, albeit without an absolute majority, leaving the PSD in opposition.
The PSD-supported candidate
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Order of Christ (Portugal), GCC, Order of Liberty, GColL, Order of Prince Henry, GColIH (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist who served as the 19th president of Portugal, in office from 9 March 2006 to 9 ...
won the Portuguese presidential elections in 2006 and again in 2011. After the 2005 elections,
Luís Marques Mendes was elected leader of the party. Internal infighting weakened Marques Mendes and, in September 2007, Marques Mendes was defeated by
Luís Filipe Menezes
Luís Filipe de Menezes Lopes (born 2 November 1953) is a Portuguese politician.
Background
He is a son of José António Lopes (Porto, Alvar, 10 September 1925 –), an Industrialist (son and paternal grandson of cattle dealers and maternal ...
by a 54% to 42% margin. Menezes was also incapable of dealing with his internal opposition and, after just six months in the job, Menezes resigned. On 31 May 2008,
Manuela Ferreira Leite became the first female leader of a Portuguese major party. She won 38% of the votes, against the 31% of
Pedro Passos Coelho and the 30% of
Pedro Santana Lopes.
In the
European Parliament election held on 7 June 2009, the PSD defeated the governing socialists, capturing 31.7% of the popular vote and electing eight MEPs, while the Socialist Party only won 26.5% of the popular vote and elected seven MEPs.
Although this was expected to be a "redrawing of the electoral map", the PSD has still defeated
later that year, though the PS lost its majority.
Pedro Passos Coelho was elected leader in March 2010, with 61% of the votes.
Second PSD/CDS coalition government (2011-2015)
Growing popular disenchantment with the government's handling of the economic crisis coupled with the government's inability to secure the support of other parties to implement the necessary reforms to address the crisis, forced the Socialist Party Prime Minister
José Sócrates to resign, leading to a
fresh election on 5 June 2011. This resulted in a non-absolute majority for the PSD, leading to a coalition government with the CDS-PP, which served a full term until the
2015 general election. During this term, many austerity policies were put into practice to reduce the budget deficit but, ultimately, created unemployment and a recession that lasted until mid 2013. Since that date, the economy recovered starting to grow between 1 and 2% per trimester.
In the
2015 general election, the PSD and CDS-PP ran in a joint coalition, called
Portugal Ahead, led by
Pedro Passos Coelho and
Paulo Portas
Paulo de Sacadura Cabral Portas (born 12 September 1962, ) is a Portuguese media and political figure, who has, since the 1990s, been one of Portugal's leading conservative politicians. He was the leader of one of Portugal's right-wing parties, t ...
. The coalition won the elections by a wide margin over the Socialists, capturing 38.6% of the votes while the Socialists captured only 32%, although the coalition lost 25 MPs and a more than 11% of the votes, thus falling well short of an absolute majority. The
PSD/CDS-PP coalition was asked by the then President of the Republic,
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Order of Christ (Portugal), GCC, Order of Liberty, GColL, Order of Prince Henry, GColIH (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist who served as the 19th president of Portugal, in office from 9 March 2006 to 9 ...
, to form a government with Passos Coelho as Prime Minister.
Back in opposition (2015–present)
The 2nd PSD/CDS government was duly formed and took the oath of office on 30 October 2015, but fell after a no-confidence motion was approved two weeks later. Its 11 days of rule make it the shortest-lived government since Portugal has been a democracy holding free elections. After that, the PSD returned to the opposition benches, and the Socialist Party was able to form an agreement with
BE and
CDU to support a PS minority government led by
António Costa
António Luís Santos da Costa GCIH (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician serving as the 119th and current prime minister of Portugal since 26 November 2015, presiding over the XXI (2015–2019), XXII (2019–2022) and ...
. Pedro Passos Coelho continued as party leader, but a weak opposition strategy led to bad polling numbers for the PSD. All of this culminated with the results of the
2017 local elections. In these elections, the PSD achieved their worst results ever, winning just 98 mayors and 30% of the votes. Passos Coelho announced he would not run for another term as PSD leader. On 13 January 2018,
Rui Rio
Rui Fernando da Silva Rio (born 6 August 1957) is a Portuguese economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was the Mayor of Porto from 2002 to 2013. Between 2018 and 2022, he was President of the PSD and Leader of the Oppo ...
defeated
Pedro Santana Lopes by a 54% to 46% margin and became the new party leader.
In order to avoid bankruptcy due to mounting debt, in 2017, the party, alongside the
Portuguese Socialist Party
The Portuguese Socialist Party ( pt, Partido Socialista Português) was a political party in Portugal.
The party was founded in 1875. During its initial phase the party was heavily influenced by Proudhonism, and rejected revolutionary Marxism. T ...
, the
Portuguese Communist Party
The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portu ...
,
BE and the ecologist party
PEV, voted in favour of abolishing party fundraising limits, thereby opening all portuguese parties to
private political donorship, that they are not obligated to disclose. The new proposal was reluctantly approved by the Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
During his first year in the leadership, Rio faced big internal opposition and, in January 2019, Rio won a motion of confidence presented by
Luís Montenegro
Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (born 16 February 1973) is a Portuguese politician who is the President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was a member of the Assembly of the Republic from the Aveiro District from 2002 t ...
. In the
EP 2019 elections, the PSD achieved their worst result ever in a national election, winning just 22% of the votes. However, the party recovered a lot of ground in the
October 2019 general elections, achieving 28% of the votes, against the 36% of the PS. Nonetheless, Rio's leadership was, once again, challenged and he faced, in a
two round leadership contest in January 2020,
Luís Montenegro
Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (born 16 February 1973) is a Portuguese politician who is the President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was a member of the Assembly of the Republic from the Aveiro District from 2002 t ...
and
Miguel Pinto Luz. Rio won the 1st round with 49% of the votes and defeated Luís Montenegro in the 2nd round by 53% to 47% margin, thus being re-elected as party leader.
In the
Azores 2020 regional elections, the PSD was able to return to power, after 24 years in opposition, by forging a controversial deal with CHEGA, plus CDS, PPM and IL. The PSD won almost 34% of the votes, while the PS fell more than 7
pp, compared with 2016, to 39%, an unexpected result, and overall the right wing parties had a 1 seat majority over all the left. After 2020, the PSD controls the governments of Portugal's only two autonomous regions.
The
2021 local elections were quite positive for the PSD, despite not winning the most mayors in the country as a whole. The party, and its led-coalitions, won a combined 32% of the votes and were able to win, from the PS, several cities like
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of .
The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...
,
Funchal
Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of its hig ...
and
Barcelos. The main gain of the PSD was the
victory in Lisbon, where
Carlos Moedas
Carlos Manuel Félix Moedas (born 10 August 1970) is a Portuguese civil engineer, economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (PSD).
From 2014 until 2019, Moedas served as European Commissioner covering the portfolio of Research, S ...
defeated, against all odds and predictions, the PS incumbent mayor
Fernando Medina
Fernando Medina Maciel Almeida Correia (born 10 March 1973) is a Portuguese economist and politician Socialist Party (PS) who has been serving as Minister of Finance in the government of Prime Minister António Costa since 2022. He previously serv ...
. In October 2021, disagreements between the PS and BE-CDU led to the rejection of the 2022 budget and the calling of a
snap general election for 30 January 2022. Despite a close race predicted by polls, the PSD suffered a big setback by winning just 29% of the votes and seeing the PS gaining a surprise absolute majority, with 41% of the votes. After the election, PSD leader
Rui Rio
Rui Fernando da Silva Rio (born 6 August 1957) is a Portuguese economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was the Mayor of Porto from 2002 to 2013. Between 2018 and 2022, he was President of the PSD and Leader of the Oppo ...
opened the process to elect a new party leader. On 28 May 2022,
Luís Montenegro
Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (born 16 February 1973) is a Portuguese politician who is the President of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was a member of the Assembly of the Republic from the Aveiro District from 2002 t ...
was
elected party leader by a landslide, gathering more than 72% of the votes.
Ideology
Historical evolution
The party was founded based on classical
social democracy
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
and was a
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
to
centre-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...
party, but later it evolved into catch-all
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...
party. The party has been described as
liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
,
conservative,
or
conservative-liberal,
with
Christian democratic
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democrati ...
,
liberal and
economically liberal
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...
elements.
Factions
The PSD is frequently referred to as a party that is not ideology-based, but rather a power party ().
It frequently adopts a functional
big tent
A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...
party strategy to win elections.
Due to this strategy, which most trace to Cavaco Silva's leadership, the party is made up of many factions, mostly centre-right (including
liberal democrats,
Christian democrats
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
and
neoconservatives) as well as quasi-social-democrats and former communists:
*
Portuguese social democrats
The Social Democratic Party ( pt, Partido Social Democrata, ; PSD) is a liberal-conservative political party in Portugal. Commonly known by its colloquial initials PSD, on ballot papers its initials appear as its official form PPD/PSD, with the ...
: the main faction when the party was created, throughout the party's history rightist politicians joined them to have a greater chance of gaining power and influencing the country's politics (see liberals, conservatives, right-wing populists and neoliberals). They do not follow traditional social democracy, but Portuguese social democracy as defined by
Francisco Sá Carneiro's actions and writings, which includes a degree of centrist and
leftist populism. They followed a kind of anti-class struggle party/cross-class party strategy. All the other members of the party claim to follow this line. Among its representatives were most of the leaders between Francisco Sá Carneiro and Cavaco Silva,
Alberto João Jardim (also a founding member and an anti-neoliberal) and to an extent
Luís Filipe Menezes
Luís Filipe de Menezes Lopes (born 2 November 1953) is a Portuguese politician.
Background
He is a son of José António Lopes (Porto, Alvar, 10 September 1925 –), an Industrialist (son and paternal grandson of cattle dealers and maternal ...
(who called the PSD the "moderate left party") identified himself with a centre-left matrix and a united left strategy and defended a more open party on issues like abortion. José Mendes Bota is another left-wing populist. The Portuguese social-democrats are centered around the (Boavista Group).
*
European-style social-democrats: follow traditional
social democracy
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
. They share with the Portuguese social democrats their presence at the creation of the party and "a non-Marxist progressivist line". Many of them (former party leader António Sousa Franco, party co-founder Magalhães Mota, writer and feminist
Natália Correia
Natália de Oliveira Correia, GOSE, GOL (13 September 1923 – 16 March 1993) was a Portuguese intellectual, poet and social activist, as well as the author of the official lyrics of the " Hino dos Açores", the regional anthem of the Auto ...
) supported the (Pressing Options) manifesto, and then left to create the Independent Social Democrat Association (, ASDI) and the Social Democrat Movement (, MSD), forming electoral coalitions (later merging with) the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...
during the 1970s–1980s. Some took part in the
Democratic Renovator Party. A later example of a European-style Social democrat leaving the party for the Socialists is activist and politician
Helena Roseta
Helena Roseta (born 1947) is a Portuguese architect, specialising in improvements to poorer neighbourhoods, and a politician who has been a member of the Assembly of the Republic and President of the Assembly of Lisbon Municipality.
Early life
M ...
. The ones still in the party adapted to its current right-wing outlook or Portuguese social democracy. They today include former communists-turned centre-leftists, like
Zita Seabra
Zita Maria de Seabra Roseiro (born May 25, 1949 in Coimbra, Santa Cruz) is a Portuguese politician and publisher.
Politics
Zita Seabra joined the Portuguese Communist Party in 1966, before she was eighteen years old and was controller of the UEC ...
. Durão Barroso might have moved from
Thatcherism to social democracy. Ironically, both Social Democrat factions were represented in the 2008 party elections by
Manuela Ferreira Leite, economically neoliberal and
socially conservative (often compared to
Thatcher).
*
Agrarianism: the other main faction at creation. The PSD was always more successful in the Northern and rural areas of the country. When Sousa Franco and his
SPD-inspired social democrats started their break with the rest of the party he referred to a division between "a rural wing, led by Sá Carneiro, and an urban wing, more moderate and truly social democratic, close to the positions of
Helmut Schmidt" Due to the electoral influence of ruralism on the PSD's politics they may be seen inside of or influencing most factions.
*
Liberals (
classical and
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
): due to the
Salazarist connotation of the term right-wing and all terms connected (liberal and conservative) after the
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
, the little attractiveness of economic liberalism in European politics, no specific liberal or conservative party was formed in post-1974 Portugal, except the experiences of the Catholic Action-monarchist Liberal Party in 1974 and the centrist liberal Democratic Renovator Party, so they started working inside the PSD. This strategy of joining "socialism and liberalism under the same hat"
was especially successful during Cavaco Silva's leadership, when the party gave up its candidacy to the
Socialist International
The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisation ...
and became member of the
Liberal International
Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...
and
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (European Parliament group), Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group, leaving the international and the European party and group in 1996 to join the Christian Democrat International (today Centrist Democrat International), the
European People's Party and the European People's Party-European Democrats. Since then, the liberal-social democrat rift (or even the liberal-conservative-populist-social democrat rift) has plagued the party's cohesion and actions. Durão Barroso (a former revolutionary Maoist who switched sides in the 1980s) is sometimes referred to as the most pure liberal of the party. In terms of social liberals, some try to link both social democracy and social liberalism to the PSD, to refer to the early PSD as liberal or partly social liberal
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29 January 2010, last comment party and social liberalism is sometimes identified with the social market economy tradition the party traditionally supported. Even members of the Portuguese Social Liberal Movement admit the traditional and current presence of social liberals (and other liberals) on the PSD.
*Christian democracy, Christian democrats and Christian socialism, social Christians: some claim the PSD as the party from Christian democracy and social Christianity from the beginning, or having these currents as part of its legacy.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is one of the main preachers of Social Christianity inside the PSD. As is Paulo Rangel.
*Right-wing populism, Right-wing populists: distinct from radical right-wing populists, the populist centre and centre-left social democrats (like João Jardim and Sá Carneiro), the populist overlappers (like Cavaco Silva), and the Euroscepticism, Eurosceptic populists of the People's Party (Portugal), Democratic and Social Centre–People's Party (CDS-PP). They are social-economic liberal conservative/conservative liberal and moderate Cultural conservatism, culturally religious conservatives and internationalist National conservatism, national conservatives. Their main representative is Pedro Santana Lopes. Though the main right-wing populists were present at the founding of the party (like Santana Lopes), they were clearly right-wing, recruited when their abilities were noticed in educated circles and universities, with minor agreements with Sá Carneiro's philosophy. Frequently as the PSD is a bipartisanship party, right-wing populists from the CDS-PP join the party. Luís Filipe Meneses is frequently described as a populist but he tried to lead the party back to a left line, and does not identify or act like the liberal conservative/conservative liberal populists.
*Conservatism, Conservatives: with the post-revolutionary opposition to the right (see above in liberal) no specific conservative party was founded in Portugal; conservatives acted inside the CDS-PP and the PSD. Frequently linked with the neoliberals, pure conservatives are rare in the party as the usual partisan or politician of the party is economically moderate, but social conservative, socially conservative. One of the rare exceptions of a pure conservative in this party was former party member and MP Vasco Pulido Valente, who is highly elitist and a cultural wikt:purist, purist (unlike most of the party's partisans, who have various degrees of populism or meritocracy), highly conservative and traditionalist conservatism, traditionalist.
*Neoconservatism, Neoconservatives: mostly former communists and leftists who supported the policies of the Presidency of George W. Bush, Bush Administration and defend similar views in Portuguese politics. The main example is José Pacheco Pereira (though his support of the Bush doctrine on the invasion of Iraq is sometimes challenged. They are frequently referred to as "Cavaco-ists" due to their support of cavacoism's legacy and candidates representative of it, like Cavaco Silva himself and Ferreira Leite, defending the position that they should take a hard stance on the left and its social liberalism).
*Neoliberalism, Neoliberals: neoliberal tendencies were introduced in Economy of Portugal, Portuguese economy by Cavaco Silva, removing socialism from the constitution and finishing the de-collectivization of the economy started with Sá Carneiro. Cavaco (a self-described Neo-Keynesianism, neo-Keynesian) never employed a totally reaganomics, Reaganite or Thatcherite strategy, maintaining a social democrat matrix and many (right and left-wing) populist and neo-keynesianism, neo-Keynesian policies. Alberto João Jardim described the inconsistent neoliberalism of the PSD as "those Chicago Boys have some funny ideas, but when election time arrives the old Keynesianism is still what counts". Cavaco Silva and Durão Barroso are both sometimes referred to as the closest to neo-liberal leaders of the party. The main pure representative of the streak is Manuela Ferreira Leite, but even she called herself a social democrat and explained "I'm not certainly liberal, I'm also not populist"
and lead the social democratic factions during internal party rifts, though she accepts the nickname "Portuguese iron lady" and comparisons to Thatcher if "[it] means [...] an enormous intransigence on values and in principles, of not abdicating from these values and from these principles and of continuing my way independently of the popularity of my actions and the effects on my image".
The main group (officially non-partisan) associated with the neoliberal faction of the PSD is the (Lighthouse Project).
*Overlappers: the average PSD voter and partisan since Cavaco Silva's leadership. Cavaco himself, though a self-described Neo-Keynesian, an early member of the party since its centre-left days and a man with social-liberal and centrist populist economic policy tendencies, he is personally a social conservative (opposing same-sex marriage and abortion) and a practicing Catholic. As such, Cavacoism should be considered a "hybrid" or a syncretic politics, political syncretism. A similar case is Vasco Graça Moura, who claims to be an economic social democrat but opposes gay people serving in the military and is a self-described "centre-left reactionary". The overlappers are mainly represented in the forums gathered by the District of Oporto section of the party, which during the 2009 European Parliament election in Portugal, 2009 European elections tried to gather the ideas of all factions.
*Centrism, Centrists: not to be confused with overlappers. Still indecisive between (traditional or Portuguese) social democracy, social liberalism or any other kind of centrism.
*Transversalists: are Realpolitik, pragmatic and not strict on ideological issues. Although open to privatization and civil society alternatives to the social state, in speech they move closer to the centre-left origins of the party and are generally proud of them. The main representative of this faction is
Pedro Passos Coelho, who claims to be neither left nor right, but that "the real issues are between old and new", though his opponents identified him as a liberal (in the conservative-liberal or neoliberal European sense) since the 2008 party election, though he recalled the many meanings of liberal and recalled the left liberalism of the Democratic Party (United States), United States Democratic Party, being even called "PSD's Obama" by supporters. Centrists and transversalists inside the party share the think tank (Building Ideas), which Passos Coelho founded and leads.
They mix (like the closely allied centrists) calls to privatization with others to more social justice, government regulation and arbitration and strategic governmental involvement in the economy. This faction is in constant rift with the more socially right-wing ones (who have been leading the party for a long time) and also with the overlappers whose hybrid approach they refuse, over the future of the party and its future ideological and philosophical alignments.
Election results
Assembly of the Republic
Seat share in the Portuguese legislative elections
European Parliament
Regional Assemblies
Party leaders
List of leaders
Graphical timeline
List of Secretaries-General (second-in-command)
*
Joaquim Magalhães Mota (31 October 1976 – 29 January 1978; as President)
*Sérvulo Correia (29 January 1978 – 2 July 1978; as President)
*Amândio de Azevedo (2 July 1978 – 17 June 1979; as President)
*António D'Orey Capucho (17 June 1979 – 25 March 1984; as President until 27 February 1983)
*Francisco Antunes da Silva (25 March 1984 – 19 May 1985)
*Manuel Dias Loureiro (19 May 1985 – 8 April 1990)
*José Falcão e Cunha (8 April 1990 – 15 November 1992)
*José Nunes Liberato (15 November 1992 – 19 February 1995)
*Eduardo Azevedo Soares (19 February 1995 – 31 March 1996)
*
Rui Rio
Rui Fernando da Silva Rio (born 6 August 1957) is a Portuguese economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was the Mayor of Porto from 2002 to 2013. Between 2018 and 2022, he was President of the PSD and Leader of the Oppo ...
(31 March 1996 – 20 June 1997)
*Carlos Horta e Costa (20 June 1997 – 19 April 1998)
*António D'Orey Capucho (19 April 1998 – 17 January 1999)
*Artur Torres Pereira (17 January 1999 – 2 May 1999)
*José Luís Arnaut (2 May 1999 – 23 May 2004)
*Miguel Relvas (23 May 2004 – 10 April 2005)
*Miguel Macedo (10 April 2005 – 14 October 2007)
*José Ribau Esteves (14 October 2007 – 22 June 2008)
*Luís Marques Guedes (22 June 2008 – 11 October 2010)
*Miguel Relvas (11 April 2010 – 12 June 2011)
*José Matos Rosa (12 June 2011 – 18 February 2018)
*Feliciano Barreiras Duarte (18 February 2018 – 19 March 2018)
*José Silvano (19 March 2018 – 3 July 2022)
*Hugo Soares (3 July 2022 – present)
Source:
Secretários-gerais
PSD
Prime Ministers
* Francisco Sá Carneiro: 1979–1980
*Francisco Pinto Balsemão
Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983.
Background
He is the son of Henrique Patrício ...
: 1981–1983
*Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Order of Christ (Portugal), GCC, Order of Liberty, GColL, Order of Prince Henry, GColIH (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist who served as the 19th president of Portugal, in office from 9 March 2006 to 9 ...
: 1985–1995
* José Manuel Durão Barroso: 2002–2004
* Pedro Santana Lopes: 2004–2005
* Pedro Passos Coelho: 2011–2015
Presidents of the Republic
*Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, Order of Christ (Portugal), GCC, Order of Liberty, GColL, Order of Prince Henry, GColIH (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist who served as the 19th president of Portugal, in office from 9 March 2006 to 9 ...
: 2006–2016
*Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa: 2016–present
See also
*Politics of Portugal
*List of political parties in Portugal
Notes
References
External links
Social Democratic Party
– official website
Social Democratic Youth
– official website
Social Democratic Workers
– official website
{{Authority control
Social Democratic Party (Portugal),
1974 establishments in Portugal
Conservative parties in Portugal
Liberal conservative parties
Liberal parties in Portugal
Member parties of the European People's Party
Organisations based in Lisbon
Political parties established in 1974
Political parties in Portugal