Rethinking state politics : the withering of state dominant machines in Brazil

Abstract

Research on Brazilian Federalism and state politics has focused mainly on the impact of federal arrangements on national systems, whereas comparative analyses of the working of state political institutions and patterns of political competition and decision-making have often beeb neglected. The article contributes to an emerging comparative literature on state politics by developing a typology that systematizes the variation in political competitiveness and the extent of state elites control over the electoral arena across Brazilian states. It relies on factor analysis to create an index of electoral dominance, comprised of a set indicators of party and electoral competitiveness at the state level, which measures state elites capacity to control the state electoral arena over time. Based on this composite index and on available case-study evidence, the article applies relies on the typological classification to assess the recent evolution of state-level poltitical competitiveness. The empirical analysis demonstrates that demonstrates that state politics is becoming more competitive and fragmented, including in those states that have been characterized as bastions of oligarchism and political bossism. In view of these findings, the article argues that the power of state poltitical machines rests on fragile foundations: in Brazils multiparty federalism, vertical competition between the federal and state governments in the provision of social policies works as a constraint on state bosses machine-building strategies. It is concluded that our previous views on state political dynamics are in serious need of re-evaluation.