Rui Tavares warns of subtle risks to democratic stability

Historian and deputy Rui Tavares is warning that democracy is at risk of being lost without citizens noticing. In an interview regarding his upcoming book, “Como se perde uma República” (How a Republic is Lost), Tavares analyzes the final months of the Portuguese First Republic (1910–1926) and the process leading to the May 28, 1926 coup.

Tavares argues that there is a common misconception that the onset of a dictatorship is immediately recognizable. He suggests that by reconstructing the daily life, media coverage, and social atmosphere of the late First Republic, one can better understand how democratic institutions erode gradually. He also criticized the media for its perceived irresponsibility in handling the rise of the far-right.