Os maestros da elite : carreiras e trajetórias dos líderes no Senado Federal entre 1999 e 2006

Abstract

Studying the social background, the political careers and political pathways of Federal Senators from Brazil who were chosen as party leaders and supra-party blocs' leaders between 1999 and 2006, this examination points out that during the 51st and 52nd Congresses the group of leaders concentrated and exacerbated the main qualities of the Senate's components. Using a theoretical framework that values institutional political experience and social capital as sources of maintenance of the political elite that composes the political institutions, studies focused on Brazil's bicameral Congress were synthesized in data and conclusions that corroborated for the understanding of the Brazilian political institutions dominated by a cohesive elite, with low circularity and high socioeconomic resources that projects them to the highest positions on Legislative. Questioning the possible dissonance between parties leaders and parties members in the Federal Senate, there was a 'leader profile' that overcame the intrinsic differences of parties on the political spectrum, where Senators that have graduated in engineering overcame the numerical dominance of law graduates in Brazil's Federal Senate, which as one half of the country's Congress is marked by long-serving career politicians, with parties leaders being even more experienced Senators, mainly with political careers built by Legislative mandates.