Abstract
The Portuguese Revolution of 25 April 1974 constituted the beginning of a new wave of democratization (Huntington, 1993). Based on this assumption we try to discuss the process of transition from an authoritarian political regime (the Estado Novo) to a democratic regime in Portugal (1974-1976). We deal specifically with the educational problems in this period, with a greater incidence on university institutions. In fact, we sought to identify, discuss and interpret the discourses associated with the Portuguese university in a rich but troubled period of the History of Contemporary Education. We opted for a qualitative methodological approach whose empirical work was based mainly on the daily periodic press, particularly in the Diário de Lisboa (1921-1990). The analysis of this journal made it possible to highlight a set of discourses that circulated within the university institutions of the time making it possible to understand the way of appropriation of the ideas in circulation at that time and to perceive their role in the new political regime.
Keywords:
transition; democracy; education; press; Portugal