The Genesis of Clientelism in the Brazilian Political Organization

Abstract

This article attempts to contribute to the elucidation of the social and historicalconditions that stimulated the appearance of the phenomenon of political clientelism inBrazil. We focus special attention on its origins during the colonial period, byorganizing relevant observations from a series of important historical works on thisperiod. The effort to understand clientelism in Brazil is justified by the fact that it hasestablished itself as a recurring feature of the country’s political organization, whichhas brought negative political consequences from the point of view of the interests ofthe popular classes -- the poor people of Brazil.