Majority Elections in the Brazilian State Capitals: Federal Independence and Interdependence

Abstract

This article explores the implications of the federal dimension of Brazilian electoral behavior. The international and national literature touts how the federation can shape political disputes within a country and influence voting outcome when voters choose their representatives in the different levels of government. In the Brazilian case, the federation is essential to electoral shaping. There are three autonomous levels of electoral competition-national, states, and municipalities-for the political offices of the executive and legislative branches, allowing parties to organize themselves into different territorial bases and connecting those bases in the process of the voting decision. According to the results, the answer is yes. When a party shows good performance in the vote for president or governor, the vote for mayor is positively impacted. Additionally, the gubernatorial election has a greater influence on the majority of municipal elections. The findings confirm the importance of federal electoral connections to understanding voting, which presents distinct patterns between the parties and the federal entities and merits additional research and publications.