Abstract
Regime discontinuities involving the replacement of the governing elite as well as the reshaping of fundamental institutions and values are a distinctive feature of the political history of modern Portugal. The purpose of this contribution is to assess the impact of these successiveregime changes on the composition and patterns of recruitment of Cabinet ministers - the core group of decision-makers - and to point out the most significant trends over time: that is, from the mid-nineteenth century, when the Constitutional Monarchy was consolidated, until the present democratic regime.
Also available in French: "Les ministres portugais, 1851-1999: origines sociales et voies d'accès au pouvoir", Pôle Sud, 22, Mai 2005, pp. 11-37.