The representative as a patron: insights on political representation viewed from below

The article discusses the perception of the sense of political representation manifested by part of the ordinary citizens: representatives are viewed as "patrons" controlling a parcel of the State apparatusesand, hence,capable of obtaining and distributing benefits such as jobs, supplies or forgiveness. This is a relation that differs from those usually discussed in the literature, once it is not established out of identification with the representativeand does not involve accountability. The article explores this "implicit popular view" of representation through the study of letters that were sent to two chief Brazilian political leaders (Getúlio Vargas and Jânio Quadros). In so doing, it discusses as such relation - albeit stigmatized by current normative conceptions - can be understood as a rational way of acting in a political ambience hardly permeable to the demands of a poor and disorganized population.