Race and Resources in Brazilian Mayoral Elections

• Author: Andrew Janusz
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10659129211032279
• Published date: 01 September 2022
• Date: 01 September 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129211032279

Political Research Quarterly

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DOI: 10.1177/10659129211032279

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Introduction

Which groups attain political representation is central to

the study of electoral politics. Despite free and fair elec-

tions, researchers commonly find that public officials do

not descriptively reflect the population they are elected to

represent (Bird, Saalfeld, and Wüst 2010; Ruedin 2009).

Differences between elected officials and the electorate

are concerning for a variety of reasons. They violate

norms of equality as well as impact the quality of democ-

racy (Mansbridge 1999; Phillips 1995). Moreover, mar-

ginalized groups that are not descriptively represented are

oftentimes not substantively represented either (Griffin

and Newman 2007; Grose 2011; Schwindt-Bayer and

Mishler 2005).

In Latin America, gaps in descriptive representation

are particularly pronounced. In democracies across the

region, elected politicians are predominantly male (Htun

2005, 2016; Schwindt-Bayer 2010, 2018), disproportion-

ately drawn from the top strata of society (Barnes and

Saxton 2019; Carnes and Lupu 2015), and overwhelm-

ingly white (Madrid 2012; Piscopo and Wylie 2020;

Yashar 2005). Much of what scholars know about descrip-

tive representation in Latin America comes from the

study of national assemblies, yet this is not the only polit-

ical arena in which gaps exist. The groups that are well-

represented at the national level typically dominate

electoral politics at the local level as well (Bueno and

Dunning 2017; Meireles and Rubim Andrade 2017;

Paredes and Došek 2020).

In Brazil, which is home to the largest African descen-

dant population outside of Africa, elected leaders at all

levels of government are disproportionately white (Bueno

and Dunning 2017). Some scholars attribute racial gaps

in representation to resource disparities between white

and Afro-Brazilian candidates (Bueno and Dunning

2017; Campos and Machado 2015, 2017; Oliveira 1995;

Strijbis and Völker 2020). In contrast, others contend that

voters discriminate against Afro-Brazilian candidates

(Fiola 1990; Janusz 2018; Mitchell-Walthour 2017). To

date, these competing explanations have largely been

tested using data from congressional elections. This arti-

cle contributes to this debate by extending this line of

research to local mayoral races.

Mayors possess substantial power in Brazil’s decen-

tralized federal system. They have discretion over the

municipal budget as well as public policy (Funk and

Philips 2019). Despite the political importance of may-

ors, there is a paucity of research on why Afro-Brazilians

seldom hold local executive office. This lacuna is partly

attributable to data limitations. In 2016, though, the

Brazilian government required political candidates to

racially classify themselves when they registered to run

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32279PRQXXX10.1177/10659129211032279Political Research QuarterlyJanusz

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1University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

Corresponding Author:

Andrew Janusz, University of Florida, 234 Anderson Hall, P.O. Box

117325, Gainesville, FL 32611-7325, USA.

Email: ajanusz@ufl.edu

Race and Resources in Brazilian

Mayoral Elections

Andrew Janusz1

Abstract

Elected officials routinely do not reflect the racial diversity of the citizenry. In Latin America, these descriptive gaps

are particularly pronounced. A growing number of studies investigate the causes of racial disparities in representation,

however, extant research largely focuses on national assemblies. In this paper, I extend this well-trod line of research

to an understudied context, local elections. Using a dataset that covers mayoral elections in Brazil, I demonstrate

that multiple factors hinder Afro-Brazilians, who comprise a majority of the Brazilian population, from winning public

office. I show that barriers to candidate entry, resource disparities between white and Afro-Brazilian candidates, and

race-based preferences among voters contribute to racial inequality in political representation. These results indicate

that members of marginalized racial groups often must overcome multiple barriers to achieve electoral success.

Keywords

race, campaign resources, elections, Brazil, mayors, representation

2022, Vol. 75(3) 846–859

Article