The reappearance of Pedro Passos Coelho and his advocacy for right-wing agreements to ensure political stability and enable deep reforms have revived the old argument that Portugal needs to reform the State to grow. The article argues that 'reform' has become a political buzzword used to justify the gradual outsourcing of public services to private operators, rather than genuinely modernizing the State to improve public welfare. It warns that without a clear focus on strengthening public capacity, these reforms risk creating social segmentation and transforming the State from a guarantor of rights into a mere manager of private contracts.