ABSTRACT
Introduction:
The research has as its object the political careers of the city councils of Salvador (CMSA) in four consecutive legislatures, corresponding to the years 1997 to 2012. It analysis the decisions that these councilors made throughout their careers. On the other hand, we tray to observe if the CMSA is a political incentive to them to seek another public office, such as member of parliament (whether national or subnational levels).
Materials and Methods:
To develop the research, we sought to use descriptive statistics and document analysis resources. A comparative study of parliamentary reform at CMSA is carried out in relation to three important Brazilian city councils. To develop it, the vacancy concentration index (ICV) and the number of mandates assumed by the counselors of each House were calculated. Next, we analyze more closely the phenomenon of CMSA renewal, verifying what decisions the councilors made at the end of their terms, belong to following categories: desistance of running and running again/ desistência e reapresentação. The analysis of the decisions of the councilors allowed to observe the paths in the political career and to classify them according to the type of political ambition. To understand the impact of the candidacy for deputy for the continuity of the political careers of the councilors, a comparative analysis was conducted between the CMSA and other three city councils. Towards the conclusion of the research, the table of the councilors is presented according to their positions as member of parliament (whether national or subnational levels) and the respective electoral results (elected and not elected).
Results:
The careers of the soteropolitano councilors are discontinuous, mainly because of failures in the reelection disputes, therefore, political decisions are marked by static ambition. The soteropolitano councilors are moved significantly by the progressive ambition, that appears in the candidacies for the positions of state and federal deputies. And to a lesser extent, the decisions of the soteropolitano councilors are also characterized in executive ambition and regressive ambition, and include other decisions aimed at future political projects. Finally, the analysis of the political survival strategies of the soteropolitano councilors allows to conform them in the type of dynamic ambition, since there is no single meaning in political career.
Discussion:
This research contributes to the lack in studies of local political actors and seeks to encourage further research on the topic. The analysis is structured in three axes: The first discusses the developments of the theory of ambition in the study of political careers in Brazil, noting what is the role of councilor and the relevance of political capital in building political careers; in the second axis a comparative analysis is developed in relation to the three important Brazilian municipal chambers, and we seek to understand the decisions of the soteropolitano councilors according to the type of political ambition; in the last axis we seek to observe the meanings of progressive political ambition for the careers of the soteropolitanos councilors.
Keywords:
political careers; political ambitions; councilors; Salvador City Council; local politics