The Kingdom of Portugal under the House of Braganza was a constitutional monarchy from the end of the Liberal Civil War in 1834 to the Republican Revolution of 1910. The initial turmoil of coups d'état perpetrated by the victorious generals of the Civil War was followed by an unstable parliamentary system of governmental "rotation" marked by the growth of the Portuguese Republican Party. This was caused mainly by the inefficiency of the Portuguese monarchy as well as their lack of interest in governing the country and acceptance of the 1890 British Ultimatum, which forced the abandonment of the colonialist Pink Map attempt to unite the colonies of Angola and Mozambique.

The situation culminated in a dictatorship-like government imposed by King Carlos I, in the person of João Franco, followed by the king's assassination in the Lisbon regicide of 1908 and the revolution of 1910.

Devourism

The post-Civil War period of the constitutional monarchy saw the rise of competing manifestations of liberal ideology and their adherents. Gastão Pereira de Sande, Count of Taipa, then one of the oppositionists (commonly referred to as "radicals"), described the government as a "gang made up to devour the country under the shadow of a child" (a figure of speech wherein the "child" represented the young Queen, Maria II of Portugal). This was one of the earliest references to Devorismo (Devourism), i.e., the corrupt practice of using the public treasury to enrich oneself or to benefit another.

The post-Civil War period was characterized by a precarious executive office, a lack of ideological definition, the marginalization of popular movements, indiscipline and the intervention of military chiefs in politics.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), p. 290 The death of the Regent, formerly King Pedro, after successfully installing his daughter as Queen, thrust the inexperienced Maria da Glória into a role that, at the age of 15 years, she was unprepared to handle.

Her counselors, aristocrats and nobles, still used the royal authority as a counterweight to the liberal revolution.Paulo Jorge Fernandes, et al. (2003), p. 6José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), pp. 290–291 There were two political currents: the moderates who defended the Constitutional Charter of 1828, and those who promoted reinstatement of the democratic Constitution of 1822. Both parties were disorganized, neither felt solidarity with the monarch, and their ideologies were not clearly defined; politicians regularly swung between Vintista and Constitucionalista politics.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), p. 291 Meanwhile, the majority of the population were disenfranchised: illiterate and culturally unrefined, they merely supported whichever wind blew in their favor.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), pp.?291–292 Education was available only in the cities, whose local merchants and bureaucratic functionaries had some sense of social mobility.

Economy Economically, Portugal was no better off in the post-war era. It continued to derive its (diminishing) wealth from cultivation of the land, taxes and land rents, while neglecting development of a financial structure to make available the capital necessary for entrepreneurs to acquire machinery and sustain industry;José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), p. 292 consequently, the economy stagnated. As late as 1910, only 1/5 of the workers in industries classified as "manufacturing" were employed in factories with more than 10 workers. The environment of small shops and handicraft operations was not conducive to labour unions.Stanley Payne, A History of Spain and Portugal (1973) 2: 543–544

Politicians sponsored many small newspapers, which provided an outlet for numerous writers to debate economic questions and promote their particular reforms. Known as the "Generation of the 70s" the writers focused on political economy, and how the traditional economy could be stimulated to progress and growth. Important writers included Antero de Quental, who wrote abstract philosophical essays; Joaquim P. Oliveira Martins (1845–94), who focused on financial topics; José Maria Eça de Queiroz (1845–1900), who employed realism and irony in his fiction to make points in political economy; and Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro with his biting caricatures of pompous politicians. Writers often considered the dilemmas caused by economic growth and material progress in France and Britain. Socialism appealed only to Quental, who was a founder of the Partido Socialista Português (Portuguese Socialist Party). They did concern themselves with the political consequences of rich powerbrokers, the threat of depopulation in rural areas, the worsening of urban poverty. They dealt with issues of social injustice, worker unrest, and the proper role of the state in promoting the public welfare.José Luís Cardoso, "Progresso material e civilização: a economia politica e a 'geração de 70' ["Material progress and civilization: political economy and the 'Generation of the 70s'"] Penelope: Revista de Historia e Ciencia Sociais (2001), Vol. 25, pp. 65–86.Payne, A History of Spain and Portugal (1973) 2: 545–547

Today, the decline of the Portuguese economy towards the end of the 19th century is still traceable via anthropometric indicators, i.e. height. To this day, the Portuguese are the shortest Europeans. This divergence first became apparent during the 1840s and increased significantly during the 1870s. Two significant causes for this development can be identified. Firstly, Portugal's real wage evolution was slow as a result of comparatively late industrialization and slow economic growth performance. Secondly, scant investments into education led to delayed human capital formation (in comparison with other European countries). The thus arising Portuguese welfare deficit can be associated with the stagnating heights of the Portuguese.

Innovation

The constitutional monarchy was marked by a series of legislative proposals by the government of the day, which had its base in the idealism of Mouzinho da Silveira. During his terms in office Silveira promoted revolutionary legislation for both the absolutist and liberal governments of the time (1823–1833).José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), pp. 292–293 Payment of rents to the State, relations between the people and the Church, and municipal governance remained as they were in the medieval era. Silveira realized, to the chagrin of other Portuguese politicians, that politics was an instrument dependent on socioeconomic conditions.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), p. 293 Marginalized at first by both absolutists and liberals, his ideas and solutions were later adopted by the new generation of liberal politicians in the post-War era. Among his many proposals, successive governments adopted his policies of disengaging the economy from social conditions, limiting taxes to 5%, ending tithes, abolishing seigniorial fees, reducing export taxes to 1%, terminating the regulation of inter-community commerce and government intervention in municipal affairs, as well as separating the judiciary and administrative offices, liberating general commerce and prohibiting some monopolies (such as the sale of soap and of Porto wines). In general, his initiatives were legislated by the post-War regimes to eliminate the privileges of the elite classes, establish social equality, encourage liberalization of the economy and improve government performance.

Secularization In 1834, Joaquim António de Aguiar terminated the state sanction of religious orders and nationalized their lands and possessions. Later referred to as Mata-Frades (Killer of Brothers), Aguiar's government took control of the convents, churches, manor homes and holdings of various institutes that had been sustained by donations of the religious faithful and placed them for sale. Although they hoped to place land and goods in the hands of the more disadvantaged, most of the poor did not have the capital to purchase them.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), pp. 294–295 In fact, total sales were one tenth of what was expected, and most holdings were purchased by speculators or existing landowners.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), p. 295

Municipalization Another facet of the post-War era was the reorganization of existing administrative units, in order to centralize or decentralize them and then to reconcentrate power in the national government. The debate began in 1832, when Mouzinho de Sousa's administration oversaw implementation of a system of appointing regional administrators to govern the municipalities, thus imposing central government programs and ideology on them: it was accused of being Napoleonic in its organization.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), pp. 292–296 The issue of centralization or de-centralization was an ongoing debate in the post-War era, resulting in successive legislation veering one way or the other. The government of Passos Manuel finally extinguished 466 municipalities in 1836, as many of them could not provide functional government.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), pp. 296–297 This lasted only six years, then in 1842, Costa Cabral's regime instituted another program of centralization, which was quickly challenged by the legislative acts of Almeida Garrett, Anselmo Braamcamp, Martins Ferrão, and Dias Ferreira. An economic revitalization in 1878 finally resulted in a new program of decentralization by Rodrigues Sampaio, which included exaggerated local responsibilities and the legal means for localities to raise taxes. By 1886 there was a new centralizing tendency. Consequently, over time (even extending into the Republican era) local authorities began to be supported by subsidy and co-financed projects.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), p. 297

Civil Code Portugal's civil code had been a chaotic and uncompiled system of laws since the Philippine Dynasty, and many realized that it required reform. Since early attempts to rationalize these laws failed, and a unified code based on the French Civil Code was disavowed in 1820, the Portuguese courts continued to function using the Ordenações Filipinas of 1603, which amounted to a simplified reform of the Manueline codes of 1521.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), pp. 297–280 A book of commentary on Portuguese law, A Propriedade: Filosofia do Direito (Property: Philosophy of Law), written by Judge António Luís de Seabra and published in 1850, was adapted in 1867 as the new Portuguese Civil Code. It was unique among European civil codes in its characterization of the law in terms of person and property; it was divided into four sections: the person, property, the acquisition of property, and the defense of that property considered as legal rights.José Hermano Saraiva, (2007), p. 298 This codification of Seabra's work would be enduring (1867–1967), and was the basis for Portuguese law regarding (in the terminology of the Code): the person as a juridical entity, promulgation of laws, property, crimes and judgments.

Setembrismo and Cartismo