Honors Theses
Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Croft Institute for International Studies
First Advisor
Oliver Dinius
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This thesis looks at the relationship between the Workers’ Party and the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy -arguably the two most powerful parties in Brazil- and why, even though, both parties are considered leftist they have never formed an alliance. Through the first two chapters the thesis highlights the changes experienced by both parties from the 1980s to the early 2000s, and how each has become the party they are now. This thesis contains a case study that focuses on the relationship of both parties from 1988 through 2002 at the municipal level in the city of Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The city of Ribeirao Preto was chosen as the case study because it is in the state of Sao Paulo, where both parties were founded, and remain strong to this day, and because the position of mayor has been controlled by one of the two parties since 1992. This thesis concludes that both parties have become rivals due to the inherent pragmatism of the Brazilian system, which leads the Workers’ Party to seek political space by moderating its position and the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy to recruit local elites to its party.
Recommended Citation
Cerdeira, Marcos de Moraes, "Left against Left in Brazil: Party Rivalry, National Politics, and Ideological Change" (2008). Honors Theses. 2303.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2303
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