After two years of political and economic chaos, democracy emerged in Portugal. This book examines the fascinating period from 1974-1976 when the Portuguese transition to democracy was far from a simple question of volunteeristic engineering. The author emphasizes that it involved a complex dynamic of interests, strategies, fears, wants, and goals among the multitude of players. The analytical focus on political factors in this book helps to reveal these crucial factors in a process that resulted in this successful emergence of democracy. Contents: Rethinking the Portuguese Transition to Democracy: Theoretical Issues; Origins of the 25 April Coup d'Ètat; The Transition's First Phase: Military Rank Versus Revolutionary Legitimacy (25 April 1974 to 30 September 1974); The Transition's Second Phase: Ideological Cleavages in the MFA (30 September 1974 to 12 March 1975); The Transition's Third Phase: Opening to Civil Society (12 March 1975 to 8 September 1975); The Transition's Fourth Phase: Battle Over Control of the Armed Forces (9 September 1975 to 23 July 1976); Uncertain Outcome: Summary and Conclusion; Appendix: Interview and Newspaper Sources; Bibliography; Index.