Political recruitment, career paths and ambitions from governors in Brazil

GERMAN LODOLA

Bogotá

Congreso; VII Congreso Latinoamericano de Ciencia Política ALACIP; 2013

ALACIP

Brazilian governors have been important political actors since at least the inception of federalism. It is natural, therefore, that studies on gubernatorial politics in Brazil have predominantly focused on analyzing the ability of state executives to construct territorial power, and protect their interests by shaping the behavior of national legislators Despite its vital contributions to understand the functioning of Brazil´s federation, extant research has noticeably overlooked the study of gubernatorial political careerism. Indeed, we do not know much about governors? recruitment, their pathways to power and future political ambitions. Who becomes a governor? What political trajectories do governors follow prior to assuming office? What are their political aspirations after leaving the statehouse? How successful are they in reaching their career goals and under what circumstances? This article seeks to answer such typically ignored questions by studying gubernatorial recruitment, career paths to the governorship, and post-state executive ambition across the entire hierarchy of political offices in Brazil during the 1982-2011 period. The empirics are based on an original dataset that contains extensive biographical information on the social backgrounds (age, place of birth and residence in adulthood, professional occupations, and extended family ties) and political experience (all public office positions, both elective and appointive, and unsuccessful candidatures) of each acting governor (i.e., any politician who occupied the statehouse for at least six months) from her first position held or election lost to 2011 or the year she died.