PORTUGAL AND SLOVAKIA IN EUROPEAN COMPARISON: SOME HISTORICAL, POLITICAL AND MULTICULTURAL OBSERVATIONS

This essay tries to make a comparative analysis of Portugal and Slovakia as European nations from a modern historical, contemporary political and multicultural perspective. It is hoped that in this way not only the differences but also certain similarities between the two countries can be elucidated. The historical perspective shows that there are parallels between Portugal and Slovakia in various ways, e.g. with regard to the strong position of the Catholic Church and the problems in introducing earlier programmes of social, cultural and political modernisation. The political analysis of developments in the twentieth century shows that in both nations it was rather difficult to carry through policies of democratic political reform, as Portugal fell prey to a right-wing authoritarian regime with fascist overtones and Slovakia first experienced a similar form of ‘clerical fascism’ and then had to undergo the yoke of communist totalitarianism. As a result both countries are still suffering from a legacy of ‘democratic deficit’, although Slovakia probably more than Portugal. Not the least interesting aspect of the social, cultural and political profile of present-day Portugal and Slovakia is the issue of multicultural problems and population structure. In both countries this is a notable feature of the contemporary scene. In Portugal the issue is mainly the result of mass immigration from the country’s former colonies; in Slovakia it is rather a question of long-standing problems such as the status of the Hungarian minority and the social integration of the substantial Roma population. A comparison of both variants of the multicultural problematic is an interesting and challenging task for contemporary historians and social and political scientists.