The New State in Brazil: A Study of the Dynamics of Regional Political Elites in an Authoritarian Context

This article reconstructs the logic of the reconstitution of the state-level political class during the 'New State' period in Brazil. The author depict the mechanisms of political support formation by the national elite as well as the principles that guided the relationship between the regional elite and the higher echelons of the state and federal executive branches and, specifically, how the president of the Republic exercised his authoritarian prerogatives towards the regional decision-taking classes. The case of Sao Paulo is granted particular attention, but the political situations in Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Parana are also approached. Two notions are advanced in order to understand this process: 'variable geometry' and 'institutionalized personalism'. As a conclusion, the article challenges the idea according to which the selective politics of the conservation/renovation of directing classes must be inscribed within the cooptation of elites. The notion of political transformism is deemed more appropriate, entailing in the fabrication of a new ruling class through the selective destitution of the enemy group by the more powerful elite. Adapted from the source document.