The positioning of Brazilian political parties on the left-right scale: methodological dilemmas and literature review

Abstract:

This article is a new contribution to the debate about Brazilian political party ideology, written with the intention of deepening methodological discussion on the subject. To this end, we will review the international literature on the methodology developed by the Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP-MARPOR) for the quantitative analysis of government programs, discussing its transformation over time, as well as the adaptation and expansion in Latin America. Next, we will present the RILE index, created as an estimate of the left-right positioning of political parties, reflecting on its applicability to the Brazilian context, where ideology emerges as a result of coalition formation. Finally, to demonstrate the usefulness of the methodology we have chosen, we will present the results obtained through its application, mapping the positioning of the main Brazilian political parties and observing their movement on the ideological scale over the course of presidential elections held in Brazil since the 1988 Constitution.

Keywords:
Comparative Manifesto Project; Elections; Ideology; RILE index; Political Parties; Political Behavior