Political parties and public opinion

the struggle between party apparatus and caciquism in the «Regenerador» Party (1870-1910)

Abstract

During the second half of the 19th century the «Regenerador» Party was a fundamental element of Portuguese politics, with significant governmental and parliamentary intervention. In this article we focus on the party apparatus and the press assigned to the Regenerating Party, producing a case study of the relationship of the Regenerators with public opinion. We also applied geographic information systems, obtaining a graphic representation of the dispersion of the party in the national territory, which contributes to its spatial analysis.

In this way, one tries to understand if there was a network of local centres, and if they had a solid action in mobilizing support for the party; and whether the official newspapers of the Regenerating Party followed a coherent strategy from the party leadership. We argue, using unpublished documentation, that the relevance of this type of media in the communication with the electorate was weakened considering the recurring use and effectiveness of caciquism in Portuguese politics.