Governar pelo medo? Ascensão e manutenção do poder nas ditaduras ibéricas do século XX.

Abstract

This study aims to understand why the authoritarian regimes of António de Oliveira Salazar in Portugal and Francisco Franco in Spain achieved such remarkable longevity compared to other contemporary dictatorships. Employing a qualitative approach, the research conducted a comparative analysis of the internal and external contexts that shaped these regimes. As a theoretical foundation, it proposed a model centered on the politics of fear and its mechanisms of structuration. The application of this model to the empirical cases demonstrated its explanatory potential. The formulated hypotheses encompassed multiple interpretative variables, highlighting, among them, the systematic use of fear as a central strategy for both the rise and maintenance of power. Through diverse forms of repression, these regimes effectively hindered the organization and cohesion of dissenting forces. Furthermore, the political adaptability of their leaders and the international context contributed to their resilience against external interventions that might have disrupted their continuity. The study concludes that the instrumentalization of societal fears—whether pre-existing or generated through wartime dynamics—served as a rhetorical and practical foundation for the identification of internal enemies, the creation or restructuring of repressive agencies, and their systematic deployment to the detriment of both nations' populations.