Local politics and intraparty coordination in the electoral dobradas in São Paulo

Abstract

Scholars have increasingly pointed out the transference of votes from local politicians to those running for state and national offices, based on two sorts of explanations. Some authors assume that clientelism explains the observed effects, while others sustain that the internal coordination of parties leads to them. In both cases, such inferences has been mainly deductive and fail to examine the mechanisms at work in intra-party interplay during election periods. In this article, we explore this issue by analyzing the practices and relationships of a network of electoral political mobilization of one city councilor from São Paulo during two election periods (2018 and 2020). Departing from detailed field interviews and participant observation of the practices of candidates and their brokers, we portrait how local politics plays a central role in intra-party dynamic. ‘Mandates’, brokers and networks of political mobilization provide coordination through structures of ties that connect actors locally and at the same time link them vertically inside the political system, generating political and electoral coordination. We show how the operation of local politics creates political incentives and exchanges of electoral support based on personal relationships, but which mediated by the mid-level structures of mandates and networks. Although these are influenced by party structures, are not overdetermined by them.

Keywords:
Elections; local politics; intra-party coordination; electoral alignments; São Paulo