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Brazil: POLITICAL CULTURE, SOCIALIZATION AND RECRUITMENT. SystemBrazil. Brazilian Political Culture: Origins. Thomastic synthesis of Greeks and St. Augustine Expansiveness of New World environment Rousseau. Elite Dominated. Emperor Dom Pedro II (age 61). Legacy of patrimonialism
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Brazilian Political Culture: Origins • Thomastic synthesis of Greeks and St. Augustine • Expansiveness of New World environment • Rousseau
Elite Dominated Emperor Dom Pedro II (age 61) • Legacy of patrimonialism • Civil society • Emerged in response to authoritarian rule Political Culture: Characteristics
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
Political CULTURE Evangelical Protestants Religious differences in voting patterns minimal • Candomble
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Socialization and Neighborhood • Political learning
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
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
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
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
MASS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION • Voting compulsory • Submission of blank ballots (varied between 19% and 31% in 1990’s) • Voting is becoming more inclusive • 1960 – 19 million eligible to vote • 1998 – 106 million eligible to vote