Abstract
It appears to be beyond dispute that Brazilian politics is overwhelmingly White. Recent surveys indicate that the proportion of people of colour in the federal parliament is around 20%. But despite such obvious marginalisation, little is known about the causes of this political under-representation. This paper attempts to shed light on the main filters driving out non-Whites, i.e. Blacks and Browns, from Brazilian politics. To this end, we have carried out a survey of the skin colour of candidates to a seat in the City Council of Brazil’s two largest cities: São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, in the 2012 elections. Given the lack of official records on the race or skin colour of these candidates, we chose to submit their photos, made publicly available by the Supreme Electoral Court, to classification by a team of researchers. The results have allowed us to gauge the extent to which the political alienation of non-White Brazilians is due to: (a) bias in party recruitment; (b) differences in educational capital and personal wealth between White and non-White candidates; (c) inequalities in the distribution of party and electoral resources; or (d) the electoral preferences of voters themselves. Apparently, the electoral opportunities of Blacks and Browns reflect the difficulties that these groups face when trying to ascend to the small elite of candidates that have the biggest funding and the most votes.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Thyago Simas de Oliveira for his support in building the system of indexation and classification for the candidates’ photos; also Isadora Harvey, Bruno Viggiano, Victor Ramos and Leandro Guedes for their help in classifying the photos; and the RBCP’s anonymous reviewers.
Annex
Occupation Classification According to the EGP Model
To establish to what extent inequality between Whites and non-Whites can be attributed to class inequalities, we chose to classify candidates according to the EGP social class scheme, developed by Erikson et al. (1979). In this neo-Weberian model, classes are defined basically by the employment relations that their members establish within the labour market (employers, self-employed, and employees), their situation in the market (income levels, degrees of economic security etc.) and their work situation (authority over other employees, autonomy over their own activities etc.). Based on this, the authors suggest an analytical division into seven classes (see Table 7). One of this model’s advantages is its versatility, since it allows different redefinitions of classes stemming from their merger into larger groups. Table 7 shows not only this typology, but our suggestion for a merger into three major groups. We have decided to limit the extension of the “upper class” category to the EGP’s first class scheme because most of the candidates come from these higher occupations.
Classification | Number | Occupation and/or work situation |
---|---|---|
Upper class | I | Higher-grade professionals, administrators, and officials; managers in large industrial establishments; large proprietors |
Middle class | II | Lower-grade professionals, administrators, and officials; higher grade technicians; managers in small industrial establishments; supervisors of non-manual employees |
III | Routine non-manual employees | |
IV | Small proprietors, self-employed artisans, and other self-employed workers | |
Working class | V | Lower-grade technicians; supervisors of manual workers |
VI | Skilled workers in industrial establishments | |
VII | Semi-skilled or unskilled manual workers and workers in agriculture |
Source: Erikson et al. (1979).
References
Araújo, Clara (2001) “As cotas por sexo para a competição legislativa: o caso brasileiro em comparação com experiências internacionais,” Dados, 44:155–195.10.1590/S0011-52582001000100006Search in Google Scholar
Araújo, Clara (2005) “Partidos políticos e gênero: mediações nas rotas de ingresso das mulheres na representação política,” Revista de Sociologia e Política, 24:193–215.10.1590/S0104-44782005000100013Search in Google Scholar
Araújo, Clara and José Eustáquio Diniz Alves (2007) “Impactos de indicadores sociais e do sistema eleitoral sobre as chances das mulheres nas eleições e suas interações com as cotas,” Dados, 50:535–577.10.1590/S0011-52582007000300004Search in Google Scholar
Braga, Izabel (2013) “Congresso estuda implementar cota para parlamentares negros,” O Globo. https://oglobo.globo.com/brasil/congresso-estuda-implementar-cota-para-parlamentares-negros-10604514.Search in Google Scholar
Bueno, Natália and Thad Dunning (2013) “Race, Resources, and Representation: Evidence from Brazilian Politicians.” In: 71st Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago.10.1017/S0043887116000290Search in Google Scholar
Campos, Luiz Augusto (2013) “O pardo como dilema político,” Insight Inteligência, 62:80–91.Search in Google Scholar
Campos, Luiz Augusto (2014) “Socialismo moreno, conservadorismo pálido? Cor e recrutamento de candidaturas nas duas maiores cidades brasileiras.” Paper Presented at the IX Encontro da Associação Brasileira de Ciência Política, Brasília.Search in Google Scholar
Cardoso, Daiene (2013) “CCJ da câmara aprova proposta de cota para parlamentar de origem negra,” O Estado De S. Paulo. http://politica.estadao.com.br/noticias/geral,ccj-da-camara-aprova-proposta-de-cota-para-parlamentar-de-origem-negra,1091391.Search in Google Scholar
Erikson, Robert, John Goldthorpe and Lucienne Portocarero (1979) “Intergenerational class mobility in three Western European societies: England, France and Sweden,” The British Journal of Sociology, 30(4):415–441.10.2307/589632Search in Google Scholar
Falcão, Márcio (2013) “Comissão da Câmara aprova cota para parlamentares negros nos legislativos,” Folha de S. Paulo. http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2013/10/1364296-comissao-da-camara-aprova-cota-para-parlamentares-negros-nos-legislativos.shtml.Search in Google Scholar
Fernandes, Florestan (2007) O negro no mundo dos brancos. São Paulo: Global.Search in Google Scholar
Gaxie, Daniel (2012) “As lógicas do recrutamento político,” Revista Brasileira de Ciência Política, 8:165–208.10.1590/S0103-33522012000200007Search in Google Scholar
Guimarães, Antônio Sérgio Alfredo (1999) Racismo e anti-racismo no Brasil. São Paulo: Editora 34.Search in Google Scholar
Hasenbalg, Carlos Alfredo (2007) Discriminação e desigualdades raciais no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro e Belo Horizonte: Editora Ufmg.Search in Google Scholar
Hasenbalg, Carlos Alfredo and Nelson do Valle Silva (1984) Industrialização, emprego e estratificação social no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro.Search in Google Scholar
Hasenbalg, Carlos Alfredo and Nelson Do Valle Silva (1988) Estrutura social, mobilidade e raça. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro; São Paulo: Vértice.Search in Google Scholar
Johnson III, Ollie A. (1998) “Racial Representation and Brazilian Politics: Black Members of the National Congress, 1983–1999,” Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, 40(4):97–118.10.2307/166456Search in Google Scholar
Lemos, Leany Barreiro, Daniel Marcelino and João Henrique Pederiva (2010) “Porque dinheiro importa: a dinâmica das contribuições eleitorais para o Congresso Nacional em 2002 e 2006,” Opinião Pública, 16:366–393.10.1590/S0104-62762010000200004Search in Google Scholar
Manin, Bernard (2002) The Principles of Representative Government. Nova York: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Meneguello, Rachel, Maíra Kubik Mano and Caroline Gorski (2012) “Alguns condicionantes do déficit representativo de mulheres e negros na política.” em: (Rachel Meneguello, Bruno Wilhelm Speck, Teresa Sacchet, Maíra Kubik Mano, Fernando Henrique dos Santos and Caroline Gorski, eds.) Mulheres e negros na política: estudo exploratório sobre o desempenho eleitoral em quatro estados brasileiros. Campinas: Centro de Estudos de Opinião Pública.Search in Google Scholar
Miguel, Luis Felipe (2000) “Teoria política feminista e liberalismo: o caso das cotas de representação,” Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 15(44):91–102.10.1590/S0102-69092000000300005Search in Google Scholar
Miguel, Luis Felipe and Cristina Monteiro de Queiroz (2006) “Diferenças regionais e o êxito relativo de mulheres em eleições municipais no Brasil,” Revista Estudos Feministas, 14:363–385.10.1590/S0104-026X2006000200003Search in Google Scholar
Muniz, Jerônimo O. (2012) “Preto no branco?: mensuração, relevância e concordância classificatória no país da incerteza racial,” Dados, 55(1):251–282.10.1590/S0011-52582012000100007Search in Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa (1997) Passages to Power: Legislative Recruitment in Advanced Democracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa and Joni Lovenduski (1995). Political Recruitment: Gender, Race and Class in the British Parliament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Oliveira, Cloves Luiz Pereira (1991) “O negro e o poder no Brasil: os negros candidatos a vereador em Salvador, em 1988,” Cadernos CRH, Supplement, pp. 94–116.Search in Google Scholar
Paixão, Marcelo and Luiz Carvano (eds.) (2008) Relatório Desigualdades raciais (2007-2008). Rio de Janeiro: Garamond.Search in Google Scholar
Paixão, Marcelo, Irene Rossetto, Fabiana Montovanele e Luiz Carvano (eds.) (2010) Relatório Desigualdades raciais (2009-2010). Rio de Janeiro: Garamond.Search in Google Scholar
Perissinotto, Renato, Luiz Domingos Costa and Camila Tribess (2009) “Origem social dos parlamentares paranaenses (1995-2006): alguns achados e algumas questões de pesquisa,” Sociologias, 22:280–313.10.1590/S1517-45222009000200011Search in Google Scholar
Prandi, Reginaldo (1996) “Raça e voto na eleição presidencial de 1994,” Estudos Afro-Asiaticos, 30:61–78.Search in Google Scholar
Rodrigues, Leôncio Martins (2002) “Partidos, ideologia e composição social,” Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 17:31–47.10.1590/S0102-69092002000100004Search in Google Scholar
Silva, Nelson do Valle (1999) “Uma nota sobre ‘raça social’ no Brasil.” em: (Carlos Hasenbalg, Nelson do Valle Silva and Márcia Lima, eds.) Cor e estratificação social. Rio de Janeiro: Contra Capa, pp. 107–123.Search in Google Scholar
Silva, Graziella and Luciana Leão (2012) “O paradoxo da mistura: identidades, desigualdades e percepção de discriminação entre brasileiros pardos,” Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 27(80):117–133.10.1590/S0102-69092012000300007Search in Google Scholar
Uninegro (2011) Balanço eleitoral do voto étnico negro e presença dos negros no parlamento. Belo Horizonte: União de Negros pela Igualdade.Search in Google Scholar
Wagley, Charles (1963) “From Caste to Class in North Brazil.” em: (Charles Wagley, ed.) Race and Class in Rural Brazil. Nova York: Unesco and Columbia University Press, pp. 142–156.Search in Google Scholar
©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston