 Lula, the people’s guy: populism, liberal democracy and voting in BrazilLuminiţa-Anda Mandache Third World Quarterly, 2024, vol. 45, issue 12, 1876-1892 Abstract: Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with Workers’ Party supporters in Northeast Brazil, and analysis of electoral campaign materials, I show that left-wing populist discourse can activate aspects of a traditional and apparently illiberal political culture that are compatible with liberal democracy, particularly the principles and ideals of representation, accountability and redistribution of economic growth. By political culture, I refer to the intersection between, on the one hand, cultural aspects such as religion, power relations rooted in history and life trajectories dictated by political and economic constraints, and, on the other hand, political discourses, leaders and policies. Moreover, I show that Workers’ Party voters are not irrational actors, as some scholars of populism argue, but vote for politicians and parties that radically transformed their lives. Using Northeast Brazil as a case study, the paper contributes to debates about the relationship between populism and liberal democracy, showing how the two are not incompatible. Date: 2024 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:45:y:2024:i:12:p:1876-1892 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2024.2391808 Access Statistics for this article Third World Quarterly is currently edited by Shahid Qadir More articles in Third World Quarterly from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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