Abstract
Television is an important political tool in Latin America. In recognition of its ability to shape public opinion and influence political behavior, Brazilian electoral authorities provide political parties with free television airtime in the weeks preceding elections. While Brazil’s publicly financed electoral program levels the playing field between parties, it may contribute to intraparty resource disparities. This article contends that racial considerations influence how party elites distribute television airtime and thus contribute to the political marginalization of Afro-Brazilians. Using original data from Rio de Janeiro’s 2012 municipal elections, it shows that party officials provide Afro-Brazilian candidates significantly less airtime than their white counterparts, even after controlling for theoretically important nonracial candidate characteristics. Moreover, it shows that there are racial differences in how candidates use the airtime they are awarded. Afro-Brazilian candidates are nearly ten times more likely than whites to focus on racial issues in their campaign ads. These results provide new insight about why Afro-Brazilians are rarely elected to public office and, when elected, the types of issues they may address.
Highlights
Television is central to modern political campaigns and arguably the most politically influential medium in Latin America
We find that party officials provide experienced politicians significantly more Horário Gratuito de Propaganda Eleitoral (HGPE) airtime than political novices
While our results broadly show that Afro-Brazilian candidates and whites highlight similar issues in their HGPE campaign ads, there is reason to suspect that Afro-Brazilian candidates will be more likely to mention racial issues in their ads (Mitchell-Walthour 2009)
Summary
Television is an important political tool in Latin America. In recognition of its ability to shape public opinion and influence political behavior, Brazilian electoral authorities provide political parties with free television airtime in the weeks preceding elections. This article contends that racial considerations influence how party elites distribute television airtime and contribute to the political marginalization of Afro-Brazilians. Using original data from Rio de Janeiro’s 2012 municipal elections, it shows that party officials provide Afro-Brazilian candidates significantly less airtime than their white counterparts, even after controlling for theoretically important nonracial candidate characteristics. Though, we do not find evidence that racial disparities in HGPE airtime are explained by differences in candidate quality This finding points to the possibility that political party officials discriminate against Afro-Brazilian candidates. In the wake of a vast corruption scandal, Brazil adopted public campaign financing While this reform will restrict corporate contributions, which primarily go to white candidates, our research suggests that party elites utilize their discretion over public funds to promote the candidacies of whites. Brazilian democracy may be undermined rather than strengthened
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