How do parties that have long been confined to opposition behave once they take the decision
to support government? This article analyses the case of the three Portuguese radical
left parties that took such a move in the wake of the post-bailout 2015 election. Leveraging
the concept of contract parliamentarism and the analysis of different data sources through
different methods, we show that the three parties adopted a similar strategy after agreeing
deals with the centre-left socialists. Specifically, while keeping close scrutiny on the executive
action, the parties have voted consensually on most of the legislation proposed by the
government. In exchange, the majority of policy pledges agreed with the socialists were
implemented by the beginning of the legislature. Based on these findings, the article
underlines the importance for supporting parties of conducting a thorough negotiation
of policy goals and the timing of their implementation before joining the government,
and of pursuing an autonomous discursive agenda.
