From Democracy to Populism
(considerations around the 50th anniversary of April 25th)

1. From April 25th to the present day
   In the lives of individuals and communities, anniversaries are opportunities for reflection. In the light of the present concerns, we question the past and look to the future. This is what is happening now, exactly half a century after April 25, 1974.
   In the test of an evaluation, happiness stands out. And why is that? Today, in Portugal and here in the Azores, we live much better than 50 years ago. Therefore, April 25 fulfilled its promise of improving our living conditions. In the test of an evaluation, disenchantment emerges. Why is that? Today, in Portugal and here in the Azores, we are still far removed from the standards of well-being of the most developed countries in the West, both in Europe and North America. So, April 25th didn’t fulfill its promise of undoing our backwardness.
   Before April 25, we had a muzzled society. After April 25, we have a free but cramped society. Still a consequence of the revolution? Perhaps, but also of older constants.
   On April 25, 1974, the people took to the streets, turning a coup d’état into a revolution. Of course, there were excesses, such as the so-called revolutionary process underway (PREC) or Gonçalvism. Of course, there have also been advantages, such as the direct participation of citizens in public administration. Of course, this was confined to urban areas, especially Lisbon. Of course, it was far removed from rural areas, except parts of the Alentejo. Of course, with contempt for the silent majority that existed, then the militia of the counter-revolution.
   On November 25, 1975, the moderates imposed the normalization of procedures. Many believe that it was only then that democracy truly began. Many of them don’t like April 25 either, or even democracy. Contrary to the victors’ narrative, November 25 was untainted by any error, not a rosary of virtues. So politics swapped the hustle and bustle of the street for the coziness of institutions and palaces. What’s more, the exercise of politics has become a liturgy, that is to say, a bore, which admits of a single festival for years on end – the electoral campaign and universal suffrage – but which is then followed by long divorces with the people, who are now tired and protesting.
   Now that we have arrived, the system must be regenerated. And how? By reconciling the opposites. Specifically, by harmonizing direct democracy, which includes citizens in the exercise of administration, with representative democracy, based on general elections, the only guarantee that the government will emanate from the will of all, not just the supposedly more enlightened vanguards. The Azores will have an advantage in this process, requiring little ingenuity and common sense. Just follow the example of the cult of the Holy Spirit, built on the consortium of the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the anonymous people, a guarantee of perpetuity in a time when churches are deserted.
   However, the crisis in Portuguese society stems from older constants, resulting from the failure to meet the expectations of other revolutions, namely the liberal revolution of 1820 and the republican revolution of 1910, which did not give rise to tranquillity or development, which coexisted with deep and insurmountable divides.
   In the 19th and 20th centuries, and even today, Portuguese legislation, if not the most progressive, was one of the most progressive on the European continent. In the 19th and 20th centuries, and even today, the Portuguese mentality, if not the most conservative, was among the most conservative on the European continent. And, faced with such a contradiction, we proceeded to invent two countries: one that was entirely real, grim but with potential, and one that was entirely virtual, seductive but without viability. We became fully aware of the confrontation between these parts in 2010, far away, in China, at the Shanghai Expo, when we visited the Portuguese Pavilion, home to a false country of a thousand wonders, on the eve of bankruptcy, which depresses individuals and communities for a long time. Furthermore, this duality establishes another opposition between the intelligentsia and the people. Contrary to the narrative of political correctness, the people are not always wise or infallible. However, the intelligentsia is even more ignorant, devoid of any reason.
   When we arrive here, we must try to bring the parties closer. It’s a Herculean effort, but it only requires restraint so that, with less drama and more tremendous success, we can evolve from what we think we are and are not so much, i.e., small, poor, and traditionalist, to what we want to be and will never be complete, i.e., significant, affluent and cosmopolitan.

2. On the subject of populism
   In Portugal and here in the Azores, populism, the same as extremism, stems from the lack of dialogue in the center, where political majorities are still defined. Mutual repulsion, typical of a club rivalry between Benfica and Sporting, cannot simply prevail between the PS and the PSD. Between the PS and the PSD, responsibility must constantly prevail, which facilitates dialog and, by extension, understanding. However, among us, the PS and PSD’s cronies only confer within SEDES, a civic association inherited from Marcelism, whose leaders and members have always had the foresight never to become a political party.
   To contain populism, the strategy is always the same, no more and no less than bringing opposites together, all useful. For example, socialism and liberalism. Socialism because the defense of the common good demands the redistribution of wealth through collective, fair, and obligatory contributions. Liberalism is because the status of taxpayers demands greater respect, which is reflected in responsible spending, which prioritizes human progress, not redundant and wasteful infrastructures. Only in this way will we harmonize solidarity with competitiveness, such as justice with development, blocking the way to extremism.
   Populism is nothing new in Portugal. On the contrary, it has already traveled on pedestals of greed and complicity. As a result, it corrodes all political institutions, from the most basic and peripheral to the nation’s highest magistracy. Here in the Azores today, as in the past, we see populists in every party and every government. Some of them are even worse than the national prototype because they are more abrasive, have shady political and parliamentary pasts, and are entirely devoid of the dignity that is indispensable for occupying positions of responsibility.
   In the fight against the hydra, we are not bothered by the definition of red lines that determine the exclusion of political groupings, even though the constitutionality of the principles can only be ascertained by the courts. In the fight against the hydra, we are bothered by the definition of red lines that determine the exclusion of a substantial part of the population with constitutionally protected civic rights. Of course, everything would have been easier if we had insisted on preventing the causes instead of eliminating the effects. However, judging by the content of the latest electoral campaigns, instead of improvement, we foresee worsening, such is the irresponsibility of the proposals, aimed at winning votes at every turn, without consideration for the lessons of the past, without concern for the sustainability of the future, only aroused by the pettiest of gifts. This is why we are witnessing the continuous degradation of politics, devoid of any ethics or values, because it is based on the constant depreciation of our fellow human beings against the matrix of Christian civilization, which still unites us whether we are believers or not. *************************************************************

In the Azores, Autonomy is the main gift of April 25th, because it ensures the practice of Freedom and the exercise of Democracy among us. However, Autonomy lacks the capacity to create. The simple conversion of the Azores into a Portugal of the little ones, where apparently the virtues fade away and the defects grow more prominent, is too short-lived.

Avelino de Freitas de Meneses is a full professor at the University of the Azores, president of the University, regional secretary of education and culture, and a well-known and respected historian.

in Diário Inular–José Lourenço-director

Here are a few examples of some of the most recent books Professor Avelino de Freitas de Meneses published that we highly recommend.