Both Spain and France ruled Portugal temporarily before the republic of Portugal was established in 1910. From 1974-1976 Portugal underwent a nearly bloodless transition from authoritarian government to constitutional democracy. Today, Portugal is a multi-party parliamentary democracy. The parliament is known as the Assembly of the Republic. It is unicameral and its members are elected by direct universal suffrage.
Deputies serve for four years.
The 1976 Constitution was revised in 1982 and 1989. It placed the military under civilian control and eliminated the Marxist rhetoric and socialist goals of the first document. This has led to privatization of many sectors of the economy, such as banks. It also calls for increasing decentralization of the administration. Membership has stimulated liberalization of economic policy.