Constitution of Portugal

Portugal's constitution was adopted on 2 April 1976 by a democratically elected Constituent Assembly, less than two years after the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974 overthrew the long-ruling authoritarian Estado Novo regime. It established Portugal as a semi-presidential parliamentary republic, with power shared between a directly elected president and a prime minister answerable to parliament. The original 1976 text carried strong socialist and Marxist language reflecting the revolutionary atmosphere in which it was written, much of which was substantially revised in later constitutional amendments, most significantly in 1982 and 1989, as Portugal consolidated its democracy and moved toward integration with the European Community. As amended, the 1976 constitution remains in force today.