Joining a Political Party: Paths to Membership and Activism in Contemporary Brazil

Abstract

In August 2015, there were over 15 million party members in Brazil, aggregating nearly 11% of the electorate, which places the Brazilian democracy among the most significant in this aspect. It is surprising that millions of individuals integrate organizations that are pointed out by part of the literature as weak, deprived of internal life and without strong linkages with civil society. Regardless of the diagnosis, factors such as the fluidity of the party system, the relative ideological undifferentiation among most parties, and the distrust of much of the population in relation to political institutions do not avoid many Brazilians from joining a political party. The first survey in the country which interviewed directly (and exclusively) members of political parties was carried out in 2013 in the state of Sao Paulo, covering the members of the ten major Brazilian parties. Using these unpublished data, this paper explores two main points: 1) the reasons and paths that lead individuals to join a political party; 2) the activities performed within the party and the perceptions of members about this participation. The text presents some preliminary findings and data of this research, which is funded by the State of Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Research Project n. 2012/19330-8).