Le droit de vote dans les débats parlementaires du XIX siècle au Portugal, 1820-1851

Abstract

The consolidation of the new liberal order in Portugal cannot be separated from electoral practices. Since 1820, elections, whose form varied throughout the nineteenth century, constituted a regular practice of citizenship. Within the constitutional monarchy in the years up to the establishment of the Republic in 1910, elections fulfilled three functions: the legitimation of power, social control and a rotation of elites. The period 1820-51 is particularly fruitful for such a study as eleven legislative elections took place, as well as other supplementary elections, and those of 1828. The latter were organized according to the traditional model. The issue of who had the right to vote originated one of the major political and cultural debates of the constitutional monarchy. Towards mid-century, the issue of universal suffrage was raised again with some vigor in parliamentary debates. One in particular took place in the Chamber of Deputies in 1848-49 following the presentation by an elected commission of a proposed electoral law. However, during the period 1820-51, before the "Regeneration", elections not only represented a way of legitimizing power, but also a pretext for the systematic examination of governments ant their majorities. This meant that, far from helping to discipline and pacify political life, the elections fostered anarchy and violence.