Rewarding Lula: Executive Power, Social Policy, and the Brazilian Elections of 2006
Authors:
- Wendy HunterWHWendy Hunter
- Timothy J. PowerTPTimothy J. Power
Top Cited Papers
- 1 January 2007
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Latin American Politics and Society
- Vol. 49 (1) , 1-30
Abstract
This article analyzes Luiz Inácio da Silva's resounding reelection victory in the wake of corruption scandals implicating his party and government. Voters with lower levels of economic security and schooling played a critical role in returning Lula to the presidency. Least prone to punish the president for corruption, poorer Brazilians were also the most readily persuaded by the provision of material benefits. Minimum wage increases and the income transfer programBolsa Famíliaexpanded the purchasing power of the poor. Thus, executive power and central state resources allowed Lula to consolidate a social base that had responded only weakly to his earlier, party-based strategy of grassroots mobilization for progressive macrosocietal change. Although Lula won handily, the PT's delegation to Congress shrank for the first time, and the voting bases of president and party diverged. The PT benefited far less than the president himself from government investment in social policy.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
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