Outros pulsares do Estado autoritário em Portugal: argumentando e negociando nas revisões constitucionais, 1935-1971

The Portuguese authoritarian state was granted a political constitution at the time of its institutionalization (1933), after which eight review processes took place in very different political contexts. The available literature on these revisions, mainly produced by legal science, has analyzed the constitutional contents approved based on the laws that operationalized the changes to the constitution. This article intends to complement this approach by looking at the legislative review initiatives that have been presented, in particular the draft laws, and to consider the conditions of their success (approval) or failure (rejection). In order to do so, we follow the assembly of the constituent processes and the negotiating mechanisms involved, relating them to the different political cycles. This perspective allows to deepen knowledge on the political forces of the regime and their individual or collective motivations (beliefs)regarding the formation of political decisions and normative arrangements. This article is part of the special theme section on Failed Constitutional Projects in Portugal and Brazil, 20th Century, guest-edited by Paula Borges Santos and Ivo Veiga.