Democracy and the Portuguese Polytechnic Education. The Case of the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre (80s of the XX century)

In this paper we intend to demonstrate how important was the creation of the Polytechnic Higher Education Institutions as a way to the democratization, access and success in the system of Portuguese higher education in the 70s and 80s of the XX century. Taking the example of the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, in particular its School of Education, and using the method of document analysis articulated by content analysis of the interviews with students of the 80s of the XX century, we aimed to highlight the importance of this Higher Education Institution in the democratization on the access and success for a large number of students attending this institution in such a decade. We conclude emphasizing the importance of regional decentralization of higher education institutions across the country and of democratic opportunity in order to allow more citizens to access and complet a degree, regardless of their social, economic and cultural roots. How to reference this article Henriques, H., Marchão, A., & Mourato, J. (2015). A Democracia e o Ensino Superior Politécnico Português. O caso do Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre (década de 80 do séc. XX). Espacio, Tiempo y Educación, 2(2), 173-196. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14516/ete.2015.002.002.00