Estado, régimen y orden público en el Portugal contemporáneo (1834-2000)

Abstract

This dissertation deals with the history of the use of force by the Portuguese State in order to control and repress popular protest in Portugal during the 19th and 20th centuries. Along this work two main issues are explored: the construction of the public order system and the changing methods the State has used to intervene in social conflicts. This work comprises a history of the police forces and the law enforcement techniques in Portugal, but a history that always underlines the links between collective protest, dispute around the legitimacy of the due government, and citizenship throughout Portuguese contemporary history. In addition, this work shows that the history of the usage of public coercion reveals the importance of previously underrated aspects of the political history of a regime. Finally, this work formulates a systematic comparison of the Portuguese experience with the history of Spain, revealing the usefulness of comparative history as a tool for the improvement of the explanations used in historical social sciences.