The condition of Portuguese democracy during the Troika's intervention, 2011-2015: Government-Opposition, Regime Support and Political Trust

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the state of Portuguese democracy during the time the Troika (IMF, EC & ECB) bailout has been in effect (2011-2014), and until the 2015 legislative elections (4-10-15) and its aftermath in terms of government formation. In the first section we analyse the outcome of the 2011 elections, the party manifestos and the main thrust of the 2011 Troika programme. In the second section, we show how the practical application of austerity programme (The MoU, Memoranda of Understanding) coincided – or not – with the mandate the governing parties received from the electorate. Here we also analyse the questions of asymmetrical austerity and the socioeconomic results of austerity (and other) policies. In the third section we scrutinise the format of the party system between 1975 and 2014, as well as the interactions among the political parties: namely, in terms of patterns of policy competition and cooperation for government formation. In the fourth section, using mass survey data fielded at the end of 2012 and the end of 2014, we test the impact of citizens’ perceptions of violations of political manifestos, asymmetric austerity, the economy and left-wing alternatives upon both regime support and political trust. The text ends with some conclusions.