The Principle of Harmonious Development

Among the most consequential concepts underpinning the construction of autonomy was that of harmonious development.

The expression carried considerable political weight. Harmonious development did not mean that every island should grow at the same pace or possess precisely the same resources. Rather, it meant that regional public policies should seek to reduce excessive disparities and ensure reasonably equivalent opportunities for the archipelago’s different populations.

It is a concept profoundly associated with the principle of territorial solidarity established by the Constitution of 1822.

In a region composed of nine islands, autonomy cannot be assessed solely through the aggregate results of the regional economy—the “region” understood as the sum of its nine islands. It must also be judged by the manner in which it distributes the benefits of development and by the opportunities genuinely available to citizens, regardless of the island on which they reside.

For this reason, the three natural and historic centers—present since the general consolidation of settlement and already mentioned in documents dating from the eighteenth century—served as the central pillars of the islands’ development, thereby assuming an economic, social, territorial, and political dimension.

To begin with three centers enjoying a certain degree of development was itself a hallmark of autonomy, dating back to the district autonomy established in 1832. It was, in essence, a herald of the future model through which other, smaller centers of development would be created—centers profoundly different from one another for geographical and demographic reasons, yet nevertheless expressions of unity among Portugal’s island peoples.

The Statutory Amendments of 1998

The revision of the Political-Administrative Statute undertaken in 1998 marked a significant moment in the evolution of Azorean autonomy.

Although many of the amendments introduced were justified by the need for institutional modernization, some raised concerns regarding the preservation of the foundational principles of the autonomous system.

Among the most widely debated aspects was the progressive devaluation of the polycentric logic that had historically characterized the Region’s organization.

The importance of this question was not immediately perceived by public opinion.

Institutional transformations seldom produce visible effects in the short term. Unlike economic crises or abrupt political changes, structural alterations generally reveal themselves slowly and gradually. For that reason, many of the consequences of the statutory reforms became perceptible only several years after their approval.

This important milestone in the evolution of Azorean autonomy arose within a peculiar set of circumstances. The 1997 constitutional revision—which, as we have seen in previous texts, brought both positive and negative consequences for regional autonomy—enshrined the following constitutional provision in Article 9, “Fundamental Tasks of the State,” paragraph (g):

“To promote the harmonious development of the entire national territory, taking particular account of the outermost character of the Azores and Madeira archipelagos.”

In other words, the State entrusted the Region with part of this fundamental responsibility. Although an autonomous region does not replace the State, it assumes the duty to pursue policies conducive to harmony; otherwise, the State would merely be abdicating its responsibility to safeguard the interests of all Portuguese citizens, including those who inhabit the islands.

Yet, rather than strengthening that responsibility, the statutory transformation cut even more deeply into the roots of the concept itself by dismantling the experience of the three centers of harmonious development.

This constitutes a decisive turning point that civil society has not yet fully absorbed, because it has not yet truly understood it. And yet, at the root of all the problems afflicting autonomy, this unresolved rupture remains.

Arnaldo Ourique is a reasercher and writer specialing on the Azorean Autonomy.