A typology of right-wing politicians in Brazil: an attempt toward empirical classification

Abstract

There has been a common assumption as of late that the political right has grown in Brazil since 2010. This is a complex phenomenon, as we do not seem to be before the customary political right. Alongside the right associated with major political parties historically connected to the dictatorial-military regime there are new types of parties and new political profiles on this side of the political spectrum. The objective of the article is to identify the different profiles
of the Brazilian right-wing by means of an inductive typology, that is, a description grounded on significant empirical cases within this political family. We propose five different types to characterize politicians within Brazil’s right: the traditional politician of the right, the politician of the new popular right, the politician of the populist right, the politician of the neoliberal right, and the politician of the libertarian right. This is a heuristic model that should be improved in the light of new evidence.