Brazil: POLITICAL CULTURE, SOCIALIZATION AND RECRUITMENT

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Brazil POLITICAL CULTURE, SOCIALIZATION AND
RECRUITMENT
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SystemBrazil
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Brazilian Political Culture Origins

• Thomastic synthesis of Greeks and St. Augustine
• Expansiveness of New World environment
• Rousseau

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Political Culture Characteristics

• Elite Dominated

• Emperor Dom Pedro II
• (age 61)

• Legacy of patrimonialism
• Civil society
• Emerged in response to authoritarian rule

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Political Culture Catholic Religion

• Catholic nation largest number of Catholics in
  the world
• Religious observance among Catholics
  traditionally low of little importance
  electorally
• Liberation theology
• Ecclesiastical base communities
• National Conference
• of Brazilian Bishops

• National Cathedral Brasilia

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Political CULTURE Evangelical
Protestants

• Candomble

• Religious differences in
• voting patterns minimal

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Political Culture of Statism

• State permeates society
• Compliance and enforcement often arbitrary
• Social solidarity movements in favelas
• Began as mechanism of state control during
  military dictatorship (1964 85)
• Movements evolved into institutions that sought
  to influence those in authority
• Became a force for democratization

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Gender

• Machismo and
• marianismo
• Under military rule
• traditional image and orientations towards
  politics of women began to change.
• Political opportunity followed educational and
  occupational opportunity.
• Authoritarianism had an economic impact on women
  
• Took the lead in their communities struggles for
  health care and sanitation
• Made demands relating to wages and worker rights

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Racial Democracy No Yes

• Racial Democracy myth
• Racial prejudice embedded in traditional Brazil
• Movimento Negro Unificado-The Unified Black
  Movement Against Racial Discrimination
• Affirmative action policies under President Lula

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Brazilian Political Culture

• How democratic?
• Not tolerant of authoritarianism
• No single vision of what kind of democracy they
  supported
• They distrust politicians, political parties, and
  democratic institutions more than in the recent
  past.
• Distrust democratic institutions today more than
  other Latin Americans.
• Less aware of their civic rights and
  responsibilities than most Latin Americans
• On the other hand, Brazilians behave in more
  democratic ways than their answers to surveys may
  imply
• Turn out to vote at higher rates and believe
  their vote matters more than on average across
  Latin America

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Brazilians National Pride
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Attitudes toward Institutions
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Political Socialization in Brazil

• Changes in the socialization of Women
• Economic development and political organization
  carried over into democratic era
• Increased activist orientation of women
• Race as a component of political socialization
• Print Media
• Newspapers confined to elite
• Magazines

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Socialization and Mass Communication

• Impact of Television (access is universal)
• Brings politics into Brazilian homes via the
  horario gratuito
• free television time set aside during the
  election campaigns for the political parties
• Individual candidates and parties receive
  coverage during television news and any televised
  debates
• Telenovelas (prime-time soap operas) .
• project themes subtly influence the ways in
  which people view politicians and institutions.

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Socialization and Neighborhood

• Political learning

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Recruitment of Political Elites
Traditional political families Coronales Fernando
Collor de Mello Jose Sarney Wealth
especially in South-east and South Military
regime opportunities for Técnicos Movement to
professional politicians (Fernando Henrique
Cardoso) Labor movement (Luis Ignacio da Silva
Lula) Inclusion of more women Luiza Erundina
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Political Recruitment and Political
Participation Citizen Politics

• Blossoming of associations 8,000 in the late
  1970s
• Organized movements around
• identities,
• single issues
• political and social rights, most notably those
  to protect indigenous peoples, the environment,
  and human rights and to gain land for the
  landless
• Tactics
• International allies
• Direct confrontation
• Use of the courts
• Role of NGOs

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Political Participation as Political Recruitment

• Mass political participation
• Staggering amount of participation
• Elections
• Participatory budgeting
• Process by which hundreds of thousands of
  citizens meet in a series of open, public
  assemblies before the legislative budget cycle
  begins in order to establish spending priorities

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Citizen Politics

• Grassroots church groups
• Urban Neighborhood associations (8000)
• Professional associations
• Countryside (Movement of Landless Rural Workers)
• Mass demonstration and confrontational politics
• Non-governmental organizations

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MASS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

• Voting compulsory
• Submission of blank ballots (varied between 19
  and 31 in 1990s)
• Voting is becoming more inclusive
• 1960 19 million eligible to vote
• 1998 106 million eligible to vote

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