State, political parties and society in contemporary Brazil

Abstract

The project aims to study the current Brazilian political parties with an organizational approach, which is still a gap in the country. In a way, it is a "natural" development of doctoral research of the applicant (Ribeiro, 2010a). The research focuses on the major parties of the current regime, in comparative perspective: PT, PSB, PMDB, PSDB, PFL/DEM and PP. The general objective is to draw a radiograph of their national structures, with an exhaustive gathering of data about various aspects of their organizations, with a diachronic perspective - from the foundation to nowadays. Overcoming the normative character of Duverger's mass party, the intimate relationship between parties and the Brazilian state will also be evaluated. Two analytical dimensions are mobilized: a) functional dimension: the locus and the ties of the party in relation to society and the state; b) organizational dimension: the intra-party structure, in terms of concentration of the decision making (influence of the grassroots members and public office-holders in internal decisions), and the degree of centralization and articulation between party bodies of the three federal levels. The main expected outputs are: a radiograph about Brazilian party organizations; the formation of a database with such data, which will be available to other researchers, in a Center for the Study of Political Parties (structured with resources of the project); a dialogue with the international literature in the area, placing the Brazilian experience in the concepts and most recent models and proposing, if necessary, new theoretical and analytical frameworks. (AU)