Pôle Sud - Année 1999 - Volume 10 - Numéro 1 - Pages 45-57The Portuguese cultural policy, if considered as a real political project (i.e. strategically coherent, conceptually defined and based on the correspondant administrative means) is a rather recent idea. After the brilliant ideological period of the post Revolution process, and the following one, marked by some confusion and hesitations, a real ministerial structure with its cultural programme have been created which domain is extended to all Portuguese cultural sectors. Such a project is largely inspired by the Jack Lang's model, even if it takes into account the critics expressed towards it. Its attempt is to break with a liberal policy logic without forgiving the economical dimensions of contemporary culture. In order to better understand such a situation, it is necessary to examine its historical roots and evaluate the effects of decades of political and cultural isolationnism, which has been rather recently eliminated through the process of European Integration. 13 pages Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.