Faces e metamorfoses do poder: Uma sociografia dos ministros da educação no Portugal democrático

Abstract

This article analyzes the profiles and social pathways of the 27 people who occupied the position of Minister of Education from the 1974 democratic revolution onwards as a way of exploring the groups, interests and ideologies governing the education system. It is based on a theoretical framework that combines research into political elites and education policies. After a discussion of the volatility of the position, our analysis focuses on the pattern found. The vast majority of the ministers of education have been men, born in Lisbon, educated in different schools and disciplinary fields, and have held a master's degree or PhD. Furthermore, most of them introduced themselves as independents and their occupations included university professors and managers, usually in the civil service but also with private companies or foundations in some cases. Nonetheless, there have been some shifts in recent decades, especially in their field of studies: historians and philosophers from the revolutionary years were replaced by ministers with degrees in engineering in the 1980s and 90s, and more recently by economists and sociologists. Graduate studies abroad, especially in England and in United States, have been an important resource. In the conclusions, we argue that, despite the changes made by democratic procedures, ministers of education have preserved a very specific profile, as a way of balancing political-economic and cultural-intellectual elites, on the one hand, while maintaining a distinction (and tension) towards the compulsory and high-school education staff, on the other.