The Politics of Personality in Brazil

Abstract

President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva steered Brazil into an era of economic stability and growth. Under his administration, redistributive social policies lifted thirty-million people out of poverty and the country rose as a player in world politics. Riding his coattails, Workers' Party (PT) candidate Dilma Rousseff, a newcomer to electoral politics, won Brazil's highest office on 31 October 2010 by a 12-point margin over José Serra of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB). Yet it is debatable whether he created a lasting electoral realignment. Lulismo remains an expression of personalized politics rather than a manifestation of more enduring partisan commitments.