Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T09:22:20.491Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Reverse Coattails Effect: Local Party Organization in the 1989 Brazilian Presidential Election

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Barry Ames
Affiliation:
Washington University, St. Louis

Abstract

Increasingly, it is said that the main determinants of electoral outcomes are class, ethnicity, and religion and that local political organizations occupy only marginal roles in national elections. I assess the effects of local party organizations in the presidential election of 1989 in Brazil. Given the long hiatus in competitive politics, the absence of any parties linked to the country's previous democratic experience, and the weakness of citizen identification with political parties, Brazil should be a textbook example of the collapse of local political organizations. The presidential candidates, however, acted as if party endorsements mattered, and in the context of Brazilian politics, it was rational for municipal mayors to trade blocs of votes for future local benefits. Applying a series of increasingly complex models to the vote shares of the leading candidates, I show that all candidates did significantly better in municipalities where the mayor represented their party. I also show that spatial factors affect the tactics of local politicians, and I distinguish charismatic from purely organizational components of support.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ames, Barry. 1992. “Disparately Seeking Politicians: Strategies and Outcomes in Brazilian Legislative Elections.” Presented at the meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Bandeira, Moniz. 1979. Brizola e o trabalhismo. Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira.Google Scholar
Benevides, Maria Victória. 1989. O PTB e o trabalhismo. Sāo Paulo: Brasiliense.Google Scholar
Buitrago, Francisco Leal, and Dávila, Andrés. 1990. Clientelismo: El sistema político y su expresión regional. Bogotá: Tercer Mundo Editores.Google Scholar
Chubb, Judith. 1982. Patronage, Power, and Poverty in Southern Italy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Coppedge, Michael. 1992. “(De)institutionalization of Latin American Party Systems.” Presented at the meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Coppedge, Michael. 1993. “Parties and Society in Mexico and Venezuela: Why Competition Matters.” Comparative Politics 25:253–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtis, Gerald L. 1971. Election Campaigning Japanese Style. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Fleischer, David, ed. 1981. Os partido políticos no Brasil. Brasilia: Editóra Universidade de Brasília.Google Scholar
Fleischer, David. 1989. “The Impact of the 1988 Municipal Elections on Brazil's 1989 Presidential Elections.” Miami: University of Miami Institute of Interamerican Studies.Google Scholar
Geddes, Barbara, and Neto, Artur Ribeiro. 1992. “Institutional Sources of Corruption in Brazil.” Third World Quarterly 4:641–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geddes, Barbara, and Zaller, John. 1989. “Sources of Popular Support for Authoritarian Regimes.” American Journal of Political Science 33:319–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keck, Margaret E. 1992. The Workers' Party and Democratization in Brazil. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Key, V. O. Jr., 1949. Southern Politics. New York: Vintage Books.Google Scholar
Kinzo, Maria D'Alva Gil. 1992. “A eleição presidencial de 1989: O comportamento eleitorai em uma cidade brasileira.” Dados 35:4966.Google Scholar
Lamounier, Bolívar. 1978. “Presidente Prudente: O crescimento da oposição num reduto Arenista.” In Os partidos e o regime—a lógica do processo eleitoral brasileiro, ed. Reis, Fábio Wanderley. São Paulo: Símbolo.Google Scholar
Lamounier, Bolívar. 1989. Partidos e utopias: Brasil no Umiar dos anos 90. São Paulo: Edições Loyola.Google Scholar
Lamounier, Bolívar, and Meneguello, Rachel. 1986. Partidos políticos e consolidação democrática: O caso brasileiro. São Paulo: Editôra Brasiliense.Google Scholar
Lavareda, Antônio, ed. 1978. A Vitória de Arraes. Recife: Inojosa Editores.Google Scholar
Leal, Victor Nunes. 1949. Coronelismo, enxada e voto: O município e o regime representativo no Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: Editóra Forense.Google Scholar
Lima, Venício A. de. 1993. “Brazilian Television in the 1989 Presidential Campaign: Constructing a President.” In Television, Politics, and the Transition to Democracy in Latin America, ed. Skidmore, Thomas E.. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.Google Scholar
Mainwaring, Scott. 1992/1993. “Brazilian Party Underdevelopment in Comparative Perspective.” Political Science Quarterly 107:677708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchal, Odile, Théry, Hervé, and Waniez, Philippe. 1992. “La géographie électorale du Brésil après l'élection présidentielle de 1989.” Cahiers des Sciences Humaines 28:535–54.Google Scholar
Mello, Pedro Collor de. 1992. Passando a limpo. Rio de Janeiro: Record.Google Scholar
Muszynski, Judith, and Mendes, Antônio Manuel Teixeira. 1990. In De Geisel a Collor: O balanço da transição, ed. Lamounier, Bolívar, São Paulo: Editôra Sumaré.Google Scholar
Nêumanne, José. 1989. Atrás do palanque: bastidores da eleição 1989. São Paulo: Edições Siciliano.Google Scholar
Sader, Emir, and Silverstein, Ken. 1991. Without Fear of Being Happy: Lula, the Workers' Party, and Brazil. New York: Verso.Google Scholar
Salisbury, Robert. 1993. “Must All Politics Be Local? Spatial Attachments and the Politics of Space.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington.Google Scholar
Santos, Wanderley Guillerme dos. 1979. Cidadania e justiça. São Paulo: Editôra Brasiliense.Google Scholar
Sarles, Margaret. 1982. “Maintaining Political Control through Parties.” Comparative Politics 15:4172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartzman, Simon. 1975. São Paulo e o Estado nacional. São Paulo: Difel.Google Scholar
Silva, Carlos Eduardo Lins da. 1993. “The Brazilian Case: Influencing the Voter.” In Television, Politics, and the Transition to Democracy in Latin America, ed. Skidmore, Thomas E.. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.Google Scholar
Singer, André. 1990. “O impacto de Collor na periferia de São Paulo.” Presented at the annual meeting of National Association for Research and Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, Caxambú, Minas Gerais.Google Scholar
Soares, Gláucio Ary Dillon. 1973. Sociedade e política no Brasil: Desenvolvimento, classe e política durante a Segunda República. São Paulo: Difel.Google Scholar
Souza, Amaury de. 1985. Brizola e as eleiçōes de 1982 no Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro.Google Scholar
Souza, Amaury de. 1992. “O sistema político brasileiro.” In Sociedade, estado e partidos na atualidade brasileira, ed. Jaguaribe, Hélio. São Paulo: Paz e Terra.Google Scholar
Souza, Maria do Carmo Campello de. 1976. Estado e partidos políticos no Brasil. São Paulo: Alfa–Omega.Google Scholar
Straubhaar, Joseph, Olsen, Organ, and Nunes, Maria Cavaliari. 1993. “The Brazilian Case: Influencing the Voter.” In Television, Politics, and the Transition to Democracy in Latin America, ed. Skidmore, Thomas E.. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.Google Scholar
Weffort, Francisco. 1978. O populismo na política brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.