Partisanship, Public Opinion, and the Federal Balance of Power in Brazil

• In Event: Intergovernmental Politics in Latin America: New Research Agendas

Abstract

How does partisanship influence the assessment of the intergovernmental distribution of responsibility between municipal and national governments in Brazil? This question is particularly interesting given the recent findings that partisan attachment among citizens, particularly with the PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores) and the PSDB (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira), has increased over time in Brazil. What does this growing partisan attachment mean for intergovernmental assessments, and how does it impact the task of holding municipal level government accountable? Most of the literature on these questions has focused on the US, but little is known about non-US federal systems. This paper seeks to adapt US-based theories about partisanship and federalism to a multi-party federal system, Brazil. Specifically, I argue that individual partisanship matters when individuals live in municipalities run by mayors of a different political party from the president. Individuals in these politically discordant municipalities should prefer that the level of government associated with their own party have more responsibility. I begin to address this question with data from a 2008 survey conducted in Brazil that specifically asks respondents their opinion about the distribution of responsibility between municipal and national levels of government. This project seeks to add to the literature on intergovernmental accountability and to the literature that seeks to understand the development of individual partisanship in Brazil. I find no evidence that partisanship influences individual assessments of intergovernmental responsibility. More generally, I find no evidence that partisanship impacts how individuals asses their municipal government.

Author

• Amanda I Fidalgo, Pennsylvania State University