The current use of the term corporatism in present or recent times corresponds to the appearance of a new variation of a conceptual structure generally labelled as democratic, liberal, societal or simply neo- corporatism (see Schmitter 1974, Pryor 1988 and Williamson 1989). Several relevant approaches to this subject emphasise the pervasive nature of the coalition and organisation of interests that remain a central issue in the social and political structure of contemporary society (see Cawson 1985, Grant 1985 and Newman 1981). One further aspect deserving attention is the association of corporatism with the raising of professional groups and their impact on the balance of power (see Perkin 1989). To understand both the achievements and the potential results of neo-corporatist theories, one also has to take into account one of its main difficulties, namely its controversial acceptance in countries with a liberal political culture and tradition, where corporatism is hardly differentiated from a conception of the social order as being naturally hierarchical and receptive to authoritarian forms of political life (see Kaplan and Minard 2004). However, those who try to draw a fundamental distinction between present-day democratic corporatism and its authoritarian, non-democratic connotations cannot erase the traces that were left by its original creators in several European countries in the interwar period. Therefore, it is also the aim of this project to interact with studies of totalitarianism and modernism in twentieth-century Europe, as is the case with Roger Griffin's work, whose approach to fascism stresses its attempt to shape the modern world and to create a culture of society which was supposed to have an impact on every sphere of social life, a transformation embodied in the project of creating a ´new man´ (Griffin 2007). The realm of the history of ideas is particular relevant in this context of analysis, given the need for a broader approach to the processes of circulation and diffusion of doctrines across nations subject to different political regimes. The example offered by the flow of economic ideas has received important contributions (Hall 1989), which allow for a contextualization of corporatism as a movement of ideas balancing between different visions on the functioning and transformation of economic reality. The economic history of the twentieth century period provides another set of useful contributions to the study of corporatism and its aftermath. We owe much of what we know about the history of the European economy to interpretations based on the combination of national economic histories, and there are still many insights to be gained with such approach (Milward 1992). However, recent developments on European economic history also claim that it is impossible to study historical trends without crossing borders and trespassing disciplinary boundaries (see Crafts and Toniolo 1996, Eichengreen 2007 and Broadberry and O'Rourke 2009). The focus on corporatism may shed new light into the institutional setting and political conditions associated to economic performance and growth trends (Matis 2003). While this project claims for the innovative features of the research outcome to be reached, most of the members of the research team have previously contributed to the study of this subject-matter. José Luís Cardoso (IR, coordinator) has published several articles in relevant journals in the fields of the history of economic and social thought, dealing with issues particularly meaningful for the current research project. The philosophical and sociological implications of the notion of homo corporativus, in contrast with the conventionally accepted notion of economic agency put forward by mainstream neoclassical economic theory, are discussed in Cardoso 2006. The attempts of corporatist authors to build up a new theory of the firm and a new price theory, which was rapidly condemned to failure, are presented in Cardoso 2004. The implementation of social policies throughout the inter- and postwar periods, in close articulation with the corporatist ideology of social harmony and social order, is the key topic analyzed in Cardoso 2003. The global vision on state intervention and the specific economic policies encouraged by corporatist authors are the main issues covered in Cardoso 2005. Though focusing on the Portuguese case, or taking the Portuguese experience as a starting point, all these contributions pay also due attention to an European comparative approach that enlarges the scope of the study of corporatist doctrines and policies. These contributions are also the consequence of collaborative research projects participated by other members of the research team. Pedro Lains (core element of the research team) has published on themes related to European economic performance, in the fields of convergence on national incomes across time, free trade in the nineteenth century, agriculture and economic development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Lains 2007 and 2008) and more recently on the rise of public finances in nineteenth century (Cardoso and Lains 2009) and the evolution of the European economy since 1945. António Costa Pinto (also core element of the research team) has written on the relations between corporatism and fascism, both as a central element of the ideological alternatives to democracy in Interwar Portugal, and Europe (Pinto 2000) and on Salazarism and corporatist institutions in a comparative perspective (Pinto 1995). More recently he co-edited a prosopographic study on the members of the Portuguese Corporatist Chamber, a starting point for a study on the role of this political institution in the authoritarian political system (Pinto and Cruz 2004).Other members of the research team have also published relevant contributions to the project's subject matter, namely Almodovar 2008, Amaral 1996, Ferreira 2007 and Silva 2009.