Dos púlpitos aos palanques: a trajetória dos evangélicos na política institucional brasileira

Abstract

Secularization and desecularization are two antagonistic projects that coexist in modern times. In Brazil, the growth of the population which declares itself evangelicals went together with an increase in the strength of this segment in the political sphere. Among the results that can be observed we have the following: 1) Changes in the representative field, with the expansion of the Evangelical Bench and the number of elective positions occupied by bishops and pastors; 2) Remodeling of the political activity, with the increase of religious elements in their speeches and the presentation of propositions in accord to religious principles, as well as practical uses of the Law, aligned with religious interest, both in the moral and institutional aspects; 3) Transformations in the electoral sphere, with the increase of the importance of religious cleavage as an explanatory variable of the vote. This thesis researches how this scenario was established in Brazil, seeking explanatory elements for the transformation of the religious cleavage into a political cleavage, with the entry of evangelicals in institutional politics, and also in party cleavage, with the partisanship of the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus (IURD). It is shown that despite the absence of evidence in the party nomenclature or program, the Partido Republicano Brasileiro (PRB) has a dense participation of IURD church's leaders in all decision-making instances and its power is amplified by the high number of provisional commissions; also PRB gathers all the parliamentarians connected to the church. This thesis provides an inflection in the perception that the PRB would be a party without an ideological definition or doomed to ostracism in the middle of a highly fragmented party system, demonstrating that the party clearly stands as a new conservative right and that it is increasing its success in the expansion of its areas of political action. In the electoral dimension, we developed statistical tests that suggest the influence of IURD in the orientation of the vote, and, in the theoretical field, we challenge the understanding that evangelicals would be a manipulated electorate presenting analytical elements that converge for their rational choice. Finally, we analyze what the "Evangelical Bench" is and what its representatives have been proposing in the National Congress.