Description
- Abstract:
- This article discusses two recent studies about the model of the Portuguese political system in the late Ancien Regime. According to the first of these, there was a gradual change towards a system of centralized royal decision-making. This silent transformation had originally begun during the reign of João V with the introduction of an advisory body, the Council of State (Conselho de Estado), which was later replaced by regular discussions with more or less transient validos (royal favorites). Despite reinforcing the power of the Secretarias de Estado (Secretariats of State), the consulate of the Marquis of Pombal did not substantially change the pattern, with the “dictator of Portugal” (M. Cheke) behaving as an epigone of the traditional validos and being little affected by the contemporary Enlightened policy. In contrast, the other study discusses the way in which Pombal took advantage of Lisbon’s earthquake to install a brand new system of government, based on a cohort of trustworthy followers of his political plans. These people were decisively inspired by the contemporary ideas of reform, namely by advisers originating from Italy and Austria, whose thinking was based on new concepts of the public good, planned government, civil service and meritocracy.
- Este artigo discute dois estudos recentes sobre o modelo do sistema político português nos finais do Antigo Regime. Segundo o primeiro, teria havido uma mudança gradual no sentido de uma progressiva centralização do processo de decisão real. Esta silenciosa transição teria começado durante o reinado de D. João V, com a intervenção de um órgão colectivo, o Conselho de Estado, o qual viria a ser substituído na função de aconselhamento do rei por discussões mais ou menos regulares com validos de carácter transitório (favoritos reais). Apesar de reforçar o poder das Secretarias de Estado, o consulado do Marquês de Pombal não teria alterado substancialmente o padrão de governo, tendo o “ditador de Portugal” (Marcus Cheke) assumido um epigonal comportamento de um valido tradicional, pouco influenciado pelo modelo político do iluminismo contemporâneo. Pelo contrário, o outro estudo discute o modo como Pombal aproveitou o terramoto de Lisboa para instalar um sistema de governo completamente novo, baseado numa corte de seguidores fiéis das suas ideias políticas. Estes os seguidores eram decisivamente influenciados pelas ideias de reforma, nomeadamente oriundas de publicistas austríacos e italianos, cujo pensamento se baseava em conceitos novos de interesse público, de governo planificado, de serviço público e de meritocracia.
Citation
Hespanha, António Manuel,
"A Note on Two Recent Books on the Patterns of Portuguese Politics in the 18th Century"
(2007).
e-Journal of Portuguese History.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/90an-bc78
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e-Journal of Portuguese History
...The e-Journal of Portuguese History (e-JPH) (ISSN: 1645-6432) is an international peer-reviewed scholarly journal with the objective of providing publication of work on historical subjects, especially those concerning themes and topics of Portuguese history analyzed in a comparative perspective. It …