Agribusiness Representation and Legislative Behavior in Brazil

• In Event: The Politics of Natural Resources and Climate Management in Latin America

Abstract

Recent scholarship has identified important cleavages in Brazilian agribusiness, with respect to the environment. In one extreme, groups deny climate change and demand that Brazil leave the Paris Agreement. On the other extreme, socio-environmental organizations propose zero deforestation in the Amazon and defend the rights of indigenous populations. It has been claimed that these cleavages are driven by different levels of integration of these firms in international markets, with the ones most integrated experiencing pressures from foreign consumers and governments with respect to environmental protection. This paper is a first effort to identify how different perspectives on the environment among Brazilian agribusiness groups are represented in the Brazilian Lower House. We rely on roll call data and novel data on legislator membership of the Agribusiness Parliamentary Front to analyze voting patterns related to environmental issues in the 2015-2018 legislature. Preliminary results suggest that the cleavages observed in the public discourse of Brazilian agribusinesses are not reflected on the floor of the House of Representatives. Not only do we find surprising homogeneity in the voting behavior of agribusiness representatives, but we also observed that this vote is far more attuned to denialists and conservatives than to more progressive perspectives. Next, we rely on biographies and campaign funding to test hypotheses about why progressive environmental views are not represented in the Brazilian Congress.

Authors

• Daniela Campello, Getulio Vargas Foundation

• Beatriz Rey, Syracuse University

• Fabiano Santos, Institute of Social and Political Studies