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A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details The governability dilemma: Progressive politics under Lula and the Brazilian Workers’ Party Hernán Francisco Gómez Bruera A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Sussex Institute of Development Studies University of Sussex April 2012 UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX HERNAN FRANCISCO GÓMEZ BRUERA DPHIL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES THE GOVERNABILITY DILEMMA: PROGRESSIVE POLITICS UNDER LULA AND THE BRAZILIAN WORKERS’ PARTY SUMMARY This thesis addresses the challenges and dilemmas that progressive parties of mass-based origin confront when they exercise state power, by looking at the governing experience of the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT), with an emphasis on the administration of Luiz Inázio Lula da Silva (2003-2010). It draws on 140 interviews with party and social leaders at all levels, as well as on secondary sources and archival research. Drawing on the notion of governability, the study offers a systematic understanding of the constraints that the party faced in national executive public office, how such constraints were perceived by some of the most influential party leaders, and how these leaders acted upon them. This work contributes to the party literature by paying more attention to the way in which progressive parties create conditions to govern, which has so far been neglected, and by introducing into the party literature the notion of governability, present in Latin American political debates. The study distinguishes between two different types of governability strategies used by progressive parties: the elite- centred and the social counter-hegemonic. The former accepts the current distribution of power; the latter seeks to alter the balance of forces within state institutions by relying on civil society, mobilisation and participation. I argue that one of the most important transformations in the PT has been the switch from a social counter-hegemonic strategy, very influential in some cities, to an elite-centred one. As a secondary aim, this study provides a new interpretation of the changes that occur in party-civil society relations when progressive parties of mass-based origin gain executive power. This thesis challenges the current accepted wisdom in party and social movement literature that parties tend to move away from their social allies when they enter government; the PT example offers evidence that this is not always the case. III TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………... 1 Research strategy …………………………………………………………………..... 9 Thesis outline ………………………………………………………………………... 15 1. The challenge of governability for progressive parties…………………………... 19 1.1 Beyond the current approaches on party change ………………………………... 20 1.2 Bringing a governability approach to the party literature ……………………….. 27 1.2.1 An analytical tool: strategic actors …………………………………………….. 29 1.2.2 Two governability strategies …………………………………………………... 32 1.2.3 Three dimensions of governability …………………………………………..... 36 1.3 Parties and civil society: A relationship shaped by governability ……………..... 38 1.3.1 Programmatic linkages ………………………………………………………... 39 1.3.2 Reward-based linkages …………………………………………………….….. 40 1.3.3 Direct/Interpersonal linkages……………………………………………….….. 41 PART 1: THE PT BEFORE LULA 43 2 The formative phase of the PT and its socio-political field……………………..... 44 2.1 The peculiarities of the PT ……………………………………………………..... 45 2.2 A progressive socio-political field: three umbrella groups ……………………… 50 2.3 The PT formation in historical context ………………………………………….. 53 2.4 Initial approach towards civil society …………………………………………… 58 2.5 Long lasting features of the PT “genetic model”………………………………… 62 Final remarks………………………………………………………………………… 67 3. Moving towards the state: the reconfiguration of the PT field…………………... 69 3.1 The post-democratic transition and the 1990s: opportunities and challenges…… 72 3.2 Prioritising electoral politics: the programmatic and discursive hiatus………….. 78 3.3 Reward-based linkages in public office………………………………………….. 84 3.4 Abandoning social allies?....................................................................................... 90 3.5 Legacies of the “genetic model”………………………………………………..... 94 Final remarks………………………………………………………………………... 97 4. Social and elite-centred strategies at work: The PT in sub-national executive office…………………………………………………………………………………….... 99 4.1 A new window of opportunity and the need to deal with strategic actors……….. 101 4.1.1 Strategic actors within the PT field: factions and social allies………………… 104 4.1.2 Dominant strategic actors: large economic groups and political parties……..... 107 4.2 Strategies to secure governability………………………………………………... 112 4.2.1 Counter-mobilisation under Erundina: the failed strategy……………………... 114 4.2.2 Participation and mobilisation: Porto Alegre and the PT way of governing…... 119 4.2.3 São Paulo under Suplicy: moving towards an elite-centred strategy…………... 126 IV Final remarks………………………………………………………………………… 133 5. Political governability under Lula: The elite-centred perspective in ascendancy…… 136 5.1 The first stage: the PT en route to the Presidency……………………………...... 139 5. 2 The second stage: Leaving counter-mobilisation aside………………………..... 146 5.2.2 Using a hybrid strategy to deal with the Brazilian political system………….... 152 5.2.3 The 2005 political crisis: instigating a defensive mobilisation………………… 157 5.3 The third stage: Brazilian politics as usual……………………………………..... 161 Final remarks………………………………………………………………………… 166 6. From the “Lula Monster” to an icon of the “responsible Left”…………………...….. 168 6.1 The first stage: anticipating reactions from the financial establishment……….... 170 6.1.2 Dealing with uncertainty……………………………………………………….. 175 6.2 The second stage: reinforcing Cardoso’s economic orthodoxy ………………..... 178 6.3 The third stage: acquiring margins for manoeuvre……………………………..... 183 Final remarks ……………………………………………………………………….. 186 7. Participation without counter-hegemony……………………………………………..... 188 7.1. Participation without innovation………………………………………………… 191 7.2 Fome Zero management committees: A short-lived experiment in citizen Power…………………………………………………………………………..... 194 7.2.1 Bolsa Família: Leaving participation aside…………………………………..... 200 7.3. From the participatory budgeting promise to PAC’s technocratic rationale…..... 205 7.3.1 Leaving the Participatory Budget behind…………………………………….... 206 7.3.2 Participation by consultation: Lula’s first Pluriannual Plan………………….... 209 7.3.3 PAC: The urgency of economic growth and the technocratic rationale……….. 213 Final remarks………………………………………………………………………… 217 8. Dealing with allies in civil society…..………………………………………………….... 219 8.1 The ends and the means of social governability………………………………..... 221 8.2 Lula’s leadership and the power of a symbolic identity………………………..... 255 8.3 Reward-based linkages I: handing out jobs……………………………………… 231 8.4 Reward-based linkages II: state subsidies……………………………………….. 236 8.5 Direct and inter-personal linkages: complicity and mutual understanding…..….. 242 Final remarks……………………………………………………………………….... 245 9. Programmatic linkages in office: Accomplishments within the balance of forces....... 247 9.1 Land reform: the veto power of dominant strategic actors……………………..... 249 9.2 The labour and trade union reforms: relative victories of an uneasy consensus………………………………………………………………………... 254 9. 3 Substantial achievements in the minimum wage………………………………... 259 Final remarks………………………………………………………………………… 264 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………... 266 V References………………………………………………………………………………….... 277 Newspapers and magazines………………………………………………………………….. 300 Appendix I: Statistical information on interviewees………………………………………… 304 Appendix II: List of interviewees and biographies………………………………………….. 305 Appendix III: Answers to semi-structured questions………………………………………... 317 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 3.1 Sources of remuneration among party delegates 1990-2001 (in percentages)…..... 85 Table 4.1: Electoral results in 5 municipal and state government elections ………………… 111 Table 9.1 Minimum wage adjustments (2003-2010)………………………………………… 261 VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I first travelled to Brazil in November 2002, shortly after Lula won the second round of the presidential election, and I went back several times between 2003 and 2004, while I was working on a project on the right to food for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. As part of my work I had the opportunity to interview a number of social leaders and government officials and to witness some of the attempts of the new government to bring innovations in the social policy arena. It was a time of great hope and expectation in which I developed an interest on both the Workers’ Party, whose electoral triumph had great impact on the Left in Latin America, and on civil society in Brazil,