Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados n. 7 Rio de Janeiro 1970
Abstract
A theoretical scheme to analyse the structure and the transformations of the Brazilian political system is advanced from the study of the relationships between State and society in Brazil from the end of the Colonial period to the Revolution of 1930. The existence of a patrimonialist State which is not destroyed by the country's separation from Portugal, emphasizes the need to consider the political processes arising from the State as oftentimes autonomous and capable of influencing the development and transformations of the productive and of the social stratification systems. This view challenges the more usual interpretative model which considers the political system as a consequence of a given level and distribution of the means of production and of the related forms of social stratification. Therefrom, the distinction between systems of political representation, which approximate this model, and systems of political cooptation, which are more similar to the former model. Analysis of the Brazilian political history seem, first, to substantiate the view that these two systems of political participation tend to coexist; and, second, that while the system of political representation develops itself in the São Paulo area, the system of political cooptation is based on the Central and Northeastern states of less dynamic economic life. Finally, historical evidence seems to support the view that the system of political cooptation tends to be the dominant system, therefore explaining the political marginalization of the state of São Paulo within the Federation, one of the outstanding characteristics of the Brazilian system.
Representação e Cooptação Política no Brasil
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