Abstract

HESPANHA, António Manuel. A Note on Two Recent Books on the Patterns of Portuguese Politics In the 18th Century. e-JPH [online]. 2007, vol.5, n.2, pp.42-50. ISSN 1645-6432.

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.

Keywords : absolutism; enlightenment; pombalismo; corporate monarchy; government.

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