The Ideology of Bolsonaro Voters

Abstract

Studies on Bolsonaro voters, based mostly on survey data, have identified sociodemographic profiles and attitudes that define them by their negative identity and cultural conservatism. However, we do not yet know if Bolsonaro supporters have a common ideology—understood not as left-right positioning but as a set of worldviews that organizes these positions. This article identifies an ideology based on three components: first, a series of moral oppositions in relation to PT voters, namely, future-oriented vs. resistant to change; entrepreneurial ethos vs. state dependency. Second, a demand for revising the cultural agenda to grant their political side control of change. Finally, a critique of corruption and a general framing of shared worldviews. The data comes from research with focus groups conducted in 2021 in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Florianópolis, and Porto Alegre.