Notably, the transition from authoritarian to democratic governance in Spain, Portugal, and Greece in the mid-1970s was one of the remarkable turning points in 20th-century southern European history. Kornetis and Cavallaro (2019, 1) claim that the processes of democratization resulted in the collapse of “the Francoist regime (1936–1939–1975), the Salazar-Caetano regime of Estado Novo (1933–1974), and the Colonels’ military dictatorship in Greece (1967–1974)”. These events in Spain, Portugal, and Greece are similar in that they were all heralded as democratization success stories (Kornetis and Cavallaro 2019). For instance, following the death of General Francisco Franco in November 1975, Adolfo Suárez spearheaded the Spanish Transition. The ‘revolutionary process’ in Portugal was put forth by the Carnation Revolution of April 1974 that ousted Marcelo Caetano, clearing the road to democratic elections (Kornetis and Cavallaro 2019). Consequently, the Greek government shift, termed Metapolitefsi, was precipitated by the soldiers turning over authority to the experienced, conservative politician.
Despite the difficulties and inequities in each case, the three nations turned their political emphasis from the system’s breakdowns to their accomplishments. Spain, Portugal, and Greece prioritized tranquil democratic consolidation while compromising the development of historical memory and progress of reflection on their civil society’s function and European agencies and players (Kornetis and Cavallaro 2019). Moreover, emerging difficulties that influence the effectiveness of Southern European democracies in all three countries are connected to unstable coalitions, poor administration, corruption, clientelism in the administrative sector, and a growing chasm between political parties and labor unions.
In addressing transitional justice, the processes in Spain, Greece, and Portugal varied; they correspond to the three post-authoritarian arrangements incorporating amnesty, prosecutions, or expulsions. Kornetis and Cavallaro (2019) emphasize that In Spain, the past was dealt with by giving a comprehensive amnesty in 1977 to political dissidents and regime perpetrators. In comparison, the newly constituted Greek democracy tried the so-called “protaitioi,” or ringleaders of the 1967 coup (Kornetis and Cavallaro 2019, 6). Around the same period, Portugal experienced a series of purges of public institutions, in other words, a large-scale “Ă©puration lĂ©gale” (Kornetis and Cavallaro 2019, 6). Thus, differences in how the three nations dealt with the regimes via justice resulted in wholly distinct management of the separate regimes’ memories, incorporating commemorative customs of the past.
Reference
Kornetis, Kostis, and Maria Elena Cavallaro. 2019. Rethinking democratisation in Spain, Greece and Portugal. Palgrave Macmillan: Springer.