A prominent question in comparative electoral studies concerns the so-called personal vote. Typically, scholars approach this question at a cross-national as opposed to a cross-party level. In this article, in contrast, the author focuses on the characteristics of parties, as opposed to the characteristics of electoral systems, as determinants of candidates' personal vote seeking. The author argues that a candidate's adoption of an individualistic or collective strategy depends largely on centralized or decentralized nomination control in his party, his party's alliance options, and his access to and control over funding and patronage. The author explores the Brazilian case, testing his claims at the national and district level using multiple regression analysis. Furthermore, he explains how one party, the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers' Party, PT), has overcome the incentives of the electoral system.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ames, Barry . (1995a). Electoral rules, constituency pressures and pork barrel: Bases of voting in the Brazilian Congress. Journal of Politics, 57(2), 324-343.
2.
Ames, Barry . (1995b). Electoral strategy under open-list proportional representation. American Journal of Political Science, 39(2), 406-433.
3.
Amorim Neto, Octávio . (1995). Cabinet formation and party politics in Brazil. Paper presented at the 1995 meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, Washington, DC.
4.
Avelino Filho, George . (1994). Clientelismo e política no Brasil: Revisitando velhos problemas [Clientelism and politics in Brazil: Revisiting old problems]. Novos Estudos CEBRAP, 38, 225-240.
5.
Câmara dos Deputados . (1987). Eleições de 15 de Novembro de 1986: Candidatos e votos obtidos [Elections of November 15, 1986: Candidates and votes obtained]. Brasília: Centro de Documentação e Informação, Coordenação de Publicações.
6.
Câmara dos Deputados . (1989). Assembléia Nacional Constituinte—1987: Repertório biográfico dos membros da Assembléia Nacional Constituinte de 1987 [National Constituent Assembly, 1987: Biographical report of members of the National Constituent Assembly of 1987]. Brasília: Centro de Documentação e Informação, Coordenação de Publicações.
7.
Câmara dos Deputados . (1993). Mudanças de partido [Party changes]. Brasília: Secretaria Geral da Mesa/Núcleo de Informática.
8.
Carey, John , & Shugart, Matthew S. (1995). Incentives to cultivate a personal vote: A rank ordering of electoral formulas. Electoral Studies, 14(4), 417-435.
9.
Carneiro, Leandro P. , & Schmitt, Rogério A. (1995). Eleições casadas, resultados nem sempre solteiros: Campanhas proporcionais e imagem partidária no horário gratuito de propaganda eleitoral [Married elections, results not always divorced: Proportional campaigns and party image on the free electoral propaganda hour]. Opinião Pública, 3(1), 45-59.
10.
Downs, Anthony . (1957). An economic theory of democracy. New York: HarperCollins.
11.
Figueiredo, Argelina C. , & Limongi, Fernando. (1995a). Partidos políticos na câmara dos deputados, 1989-1993 [Political parties in the chamber of deputies]. São Paulo: Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento.
12.
Figueiredo, Argelina C. , & Limongi, Fernando. (1995b). Terra incognita: O Congresso Brasileiro na época os-constituinte [Unknown lands: The Brazilian Congress in the postconstituent assembly era]. São Paulo: CEBRAP.
13.
Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil . (n.d.). Gabinete civil da presidência da república: Ministros-chefes [Civil cabinet of the president of the republic: Chief ministers]. Rio de Janeiro: Author.
14.
Garcia, Marco Aurélio . (1991). Marxismo, Leninismo, e social-democracia [Marxism, Leninism, and social democracy]. São Paulo: Partido dos Trabalhadores.
15.
Gujarati, Damodar . (1988). Basic econometrics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
16.
Gurgel, Claudio . (1989). Estrelas e borboletas: Origens e questões de um partido a caminho do poder [Stars and butterflies: Origins and questions of a party on the road to power]. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Papagaio.
17.
Hrebenar, Ronald J. (1992). The Japanese party system. Boulder, CO: Westview.
18.
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística . (1993). Anuário estatístico do Brasil, Volume 53 [Annual statistics of Brazil]. Rio de Janeiro: Author.
19.
Instituto de Estudos Sócio-Econômicos . (1994). Candidatos a governador: Informativo INESC, Ano VIII, 1st semester [Candidates for governor]. Brasília: Author.
20.
Katz, Richard . (1985). Preference voting in Italy: Votes of opinion, belonging or exchange. Comparative Political Studies, 18(2), 229-249.
21.
Keck, Margaret . (1992). The workers' party and democratization in Brazil. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
22.
Lamounier, Bolivar . (1991). Depois da transição: Democracia e eleições no Governo Collor [After the transition: Democracy and elections in the Collar government]. São Paulo: Edições Loyola.
23.
Lewis-Beck, Michael . (1980). Applied regression: and introduction (Sage University Paper Series, No. 22). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
24.
Mainwaring, Scott . (1991, October). Politicians, parties and electoral systems: Brazil in comparative perspective. Comparative Politics, 24, 21-43.
25.
Mainwaring, Scott . (1992). Brazilian party underdevelopment in comparative perspective. Political Science Quarterly, 107(4), 677-707.
26.
Mainwaring, Scott . (1995). Brazil: Weak parties, feckless democracy. In Scott Mainwaring & Timothy Scully (Eds.), Parties and party systems in Latin America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
27.
Mainwaring, Scott . (in press). The party system and democratization in Brazil. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
28.
Meneguello, Rachel . (1989). PT: A formação de um partido, 1979-1982 [PT: The formation of a party, 1979-1982]. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra.
29.
Myerson, Roger B. (1993). Incentives to cultivate favored minorities under alternative electoral systems. American Journal of Political Science, 87, 856-869.
30.
Nicolau, Jairo . (1994). Breves comentários sobre as eleições de 1994 e o quadro político [Brief commentary on the 1994 elections and the partisan situation]. Cadernos de Conjuntura IUPERJ, 50, 15-19.
31.
Nicolau, Jairo . (1996). A migração partidária na câmara dos deputados (1991-96) [Party-switching in the chamber of deputies (1991-96)]. Monitor Público, 3(10), 41-45.
32.
Novaes, Carlos Alberto Marques . (1993, March). PT: Dilemas da burocratização [PT: Dilemmas of bureaucratization]. Novos Estudos CEBRAP, 35, 217-237.
33.
Popkin, Samuel . (1990). The reasoning voter. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
34.
Sader, Emir , & Silverstein, Ken. (1991). Without fear of being happy: Lula, the workers' party and Brazil. New York: Verso.
35.
Schwartzman, Simon . (1975). São Paulo e o estado nacional [São Paulo and the national state]. São Paulo: Difusão Européio do Livro.
36.
Senado Federal . (1995). Deputados Brasileiros: Repertório biográfico [Brazilian deputies: Biographical report]. Brasília: Centro Gráfico do Senado Federal.
37.
Strom, Kaare . (1990). A behavioral theory of competitive political parties. American Journal of Political Science, 34(2), 565-598.
38.
Tempo de TV causa briga na aliança do PT [Allocation of TV time causes battle within the PT alliance] . (1994, June 7). Jornal do Brasil, p. A7.
39.
Tempo na TV abala a coligação petista [Allocation of TV time breaks up the PT alliance] . (1994, June 11). Jornal do Brasil, p. A3.
40.
Tribunal Regional Eleitoral . (1986). Various mimeographed election results.
41.
Tribunal Superior Eleitoral . (1990). Dados estatísticos [Statistical data]. Brasília: Author.
42.
Tribunal Superior Eleitoral . (1994). Dados estatísticos [Statistical data]. Brasília: Author.
43.
Tribunal Superior Eleitoral . (1997). Sistema de controle de recursos arrecados—SISCRA [System for the control of campaign contributions]. Brasília: Author.
44.
Valenzuela, Arturo . (1977). Political brokers in Chile: Local government in a centralized polity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
