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The problem of divided societies and divisions in societies acquires special significance against the background of growing socio-political tensions in the internal and external political dimensions around the world. The West is ceasing to be an area of predominant tranquility and wellbeing. In recent years, in European societies a trend of increasing divisions has also emerged. The article analyzes old and new socio-political divisions (cleavages) within the Portuguese society. The choice of Portugal as a case study is due to the combination of several factors: the memory of the Carnation Revolution, the attitude towards the European project, the imperial past, Catholicism/secularism, and the historical legacy of the Salazar dictatorship. The theoretical and methodological framework of the study is based on the use of the concept of divided societies and constructivism as the main epistemological tools, while the country studies analysis is also applied. The authors attempt not only to identify the basic socio-cultural divisions in the contemporary Portuguese society, but also answer the question of whether it is possible to speak of a divided society in relation to the Portuguese case. The emphasis is placed on the peculiarities of Portugal’s historical path as a post-imperial state whose specificity is largely due, first, to the heritage of the Portuguese maritime empire, and, second, to the legacy of the 1974 Carnation Revolution. The key cleavages that are at the center of the analysis are the legacy of the Carnation Revolution, the European project, the imperial legacy, the religious configuration, and the Salazar heritage. The conclusion is that the Portuguese society has managed to avoid the most negative scenario of the development of the situation and has a chance of consolidation.

The article analyzes the phenomenon of new populism in Central and Eastern Europe, taking as an example such countries as Hungary and Poland. The object of research is scientific discourse, and the subject is its segment, directly or indirectly related to populism in CEE. The main problems, aspects and positions that exist in the scientific community on the topic of populism are identified. This article explores the questions of whether populists in CEE countries are bearers of the potential for alternativeism.The piece also raises the problem of the model of the world order and the possibility of projecting an Eastern European alternative development-Most attention is paid to the answers to these research questions. In addition, the article outlines possible prospects for the development of the scientific discourse of populism, including in a comparative political key.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly and synchronously changed the lives of billions of people all over the planet. The economic, social, and political problems were entwined in tight contradictions. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international and national political issues has been the focus of attention of academia around the world since early 2020. The primary attention has been focused on international and national levels. At the same time, the subnational and local dimensions of the corona crisis "elude" the political science community. Nevertheless, fighting against the new biogenic danger changes the redistribution of power between the national, subnational, and local levels. The article analyses this redistribution and presents its preliminary due to the incompleteness of the pandemic results. It seeks to identify the main patterns of a new round of the evolution of subsidiarity associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. What role does COVID-subsidiarity play now, and what are its prospects in the post-pandemic world? The article employs the concept of megatrends and comparative methods to answer this question. The results show that extraordinary powers have been redistributed worldwide from the national to the subnational level. The essential characteristic of COVID-subsidiarity is the emergence of emergency powers at the subnational and local levels. It happens in states with different political regimes and different political cultures. It is likely that even after the end of the current pandemic, in some cases, the subnational regions will try to retain the expanded powers they acquired during the emergency. This is part of a broader process of transformation of the modern state and its adaptation to the newly emerging political organization of the world.