‘The contraption’ and the future of social democracy: the government experiment in Portugal

Something relatively obvious took too long to be explicitly acknowledged in Portuguese democracy: that there are more points of convergence than of divergence among the leftwing parties.

The current government experiment in Portugal - the socialist party spearheads an alliance with two far-left parties, the Communist Party and the Left Bloc - suggests a path which might be followed in other European countries. The experiment, which has come to be known as 'a geringonça' ('the contraption') illustrates that social democracy is not necessarily doomed. On the contrary, it can expand and construct bridges, mobilising political connections among different forces around a progressive agenda.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: European left wants piece of Portugal’s ‘contraption’ http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-left-wants-piece-of-portugals-contraption/

ESO: Background information: A New Deal To Save Europe ( DiEM25 movement - European New Deal) http://www.europeansources.info/record/a-new-deal-to-save-europe/

ESO: Background information: Understanding the Populist Revolt http://www.europeansources.info/record/understanding-the-populist-revolt/

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