Satellite Political Movements: How Grassroots Activists Bolster Trump and Bolsonaro in the United States and Brazil

Abstract

We develop the concept of the satellite political movement (SPM), a form of movement-party interaction that emerges in support of a particular political leader. We theorize SPMs as grassroots movements that seek to empower a formal political figure by engaging in activism on that individual’s behalf. Examining the cases of Donald Trump in the United States and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, we suggest that SPMs may serve as a valuable resource for insurgent political leaders by engaging in year-round campaigning, activating new supporters, and providing political cover for more controversial tactics. We analyze social media content, legal documents, and contemporaneous reporting to illustrate the actors within SPMs, their relationships to the formal political leader they support, and three theoretical mechanisms through which SPMs may bolster political leaders: permanent campaign, radicalism by proxy, and strategic separation.