Colloquium “Paths of Democracy”

24 October | 10:00

Location: Auditório Paços do Concelho Séc. XXI Organised by: CM Lagos Duration: 3 hours Free entry

This event is part of the initiative "Lagos – Freedom and Democracy" (52nd anniversary of the 25th of April and 50th anniversary of the Constitution and the first Local Elections).

Featuring António Costa Pinto, Teresa Violante, and António Branco, with moderation by journalist Elisabete Rodrigues.

BIOGRAPHIES: ANTÓNIO COSTA PINTO was born in Lisbon in 1953. He holds a PhD from the European University Institute (1992, Florence) and is a Full Professor at the Universidade Lusófona-Campus de Lisboa. He is currently a Retired Researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon. He has been a Visiting Professor at Stanford University (1993) and Georgetown (2004), and a Visiting Researcher at Princeton University (1996), the University of California, Berkeley (2000 and 2010), and New York University (2017). From 1999 to 2003, he was a regular Visiting Professor at the Institut D'Études Politiques de Paris. He served as President of the Portuguese Political Science Association. His works primarily focus on authoritarianism and fascism, democratic transitions, and "transitional justice" in Portugal and Europe. The longevity of the Portuguese Estado Novo initially led him to comparative studies of authoritarian systems. Another theme he has dedicated himself to is political elites and regime changes. He was a scientific consultant for the establishment of the Museum of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic and has regularly contributed to the press, radio, and television, serving as a commentator on SIC Notícias and RTP. Among his most recent works in Portuguese is (co-editor), "The Essentials of Portuguese Politics", Lisbon, Tinta da China, 2023.

TERESA VIOLANTE is a lawyer, guest lecturer at Nova School of Law, and director of the Institute for the Rule of Law at the European Public Law Organisation. She is also the deputy director of Nova's research centre for the study of gender, family, and law, co-chair of the Portuguese chapter of the International Society of Public Law, and vice-president of Transparency International Portugal. She is a columnist for Expresso.

ANTÓNIO BRANCO was born in Malanje, Angola, in 1961. He graduated in Languages and Literatures from the Faculty of Arts in Lisbon (1989). He was an actor at Teatro do Mundo (1979-1983, Lisbon), while also working as a musician and composer. In 1996, he published a poetry book (Fugidia Comunhão), which includes most of the poems with which he won the Special Jury Prize at the National Culture Centre Poetry Competition in 1986. Between 2009 and 2015, he was an actor and director with the group A Peste – Associação de Pesquisa Teatral in Faro (5 productions). With a doctorate in Literature, he has been a professor at the University of Algarve since 1991, where he served as rector from 2013 to 2017. Since April 2022, he has been the president of the Algarve Musical Association, which promotes the Algarve Orchestra.

ELISABETE RODRIGUES has been a professional journalist since 1985, holding a degree in Social Communication from the FCSH at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. She has also completed various specialisations at Cenjor – Centre for Journalist Training.

She began her career at the weekly newspaper «O Jornal» and has worked for Agência Notícias de Portugal, Agência Lusa, «Independente», and «Diário de Notícias» (1989 to 1999), as well as «Barlavento» (2000 to 2011). In 2011, she co-founded the online newspaper Sul Informação, where she serves as editor. It has become the leading regional newspaper in the Algarve and Baixo Alentejo and one of the most respected in the country.

In 2016, she also founded and directs Alentejo.Sul Informação, a dedicated edition of the newspaper for Alentejo, particularly the district of Beja. Additionally, she established the magazine DOIS in 2022, an annual publication known for its high editorial and graphic quality, distributed and sold throughout the country, created by the Sul Informação team.

Elisabete has won numerous journalism awards, mostly individually but also as part of a team. She has taught the Communication Sciences course at the University of Algarve and has trained teachers in media education. Currently, she is a trainer at ETIC-Algarve, teaching Journalistic Writing, and also provides training in Media Literacy.