Fascist Legacies of Mobilization and Co-Optation

Evidence from Democratic Portugal

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6245178
AutoresMichael Albertus (0000-0002-3341-8687, University of Chicago), Noah Schouela (0000-0003-2635-7107, University of Chicago, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume58
Fascículo14
Páginas3109-3142
Data de publicação2025-12-01
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoComparative Political Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0010-4140 • E-ISSN: 1552-3829
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00104140231204243
OpenAlexW4390841519
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas30

Many authoritarian regimes seek to blunt everyday acts of resistance and social mobilization through co-optation rather than adopting riskier tools like outright repression. What are the political imprints of authoritarian-era co-optation after a transition to democracy? We examine this question in Portugal, where rural corporatist institutions known as Casas do Povo sought to co-opt peasants and dismantle worker mobilization in the fascist era. We find conditional effects for the consequences of rural co-optation in Portugal’s restive southern region, where Casas do Povo took on particular importance given ongoing social mobilization over exploitative labor conditions in the countryside. Absent robust co-optation, social mobilization in the fascist era translated into greater support for the left-wing Portuguese Communist Party after democratization and less support for the right. But the electoral legacies of social mobilization are absent where the fascist regime created early Casas do Povo, facilitating co-optation

Authoritarianism · Contentious politics · Democracy · Democratization · Mobilization · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Portuguese · Social mobilization · Social movement · Sociology · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Social Capital and Networks · Social Policy and Reform Studies