This dissertation aims to analyze the re-foundation process of the Partido da Frente Liberal (PFL), which resulted in the change of command of the party and the replacement of the previous name of the legend by Democrats (DEM) in March 2007. We assume the hypothesis that the transfer of the PFL for the opposition since 2003, unprecedented in the history of the party, was the crucial event to the decision of party leaders to try to give new image and identity to the PFL. We argue also that the re-foundation aimed to reposition the PFL in Brazilian electoral political market in order to attract the support of the urban voters located in large and medium-sized cities. Interviews with political leaders and party, plus documents, promotional material and public opinion polls produced by PFL/DEM were used for the analysis and description of the PFL re-foundation process. Data about party switching phenomenon and PFL electoral performance before and after the path to the opposition to Lula administration were also employed. We show that the transition to the opposition led to the weakening of the PFL. Two movements together caused the retreat of the party: 1) the transfer of PFL politicians to parties allied to Lula´s administration, 2) the poor electoral performance in the Northeast, traditional stronghold of the PFL during the time it was in the government and that was progressively dominated by parties which supported PT administration. Finally, dealing with the results of municipal elections in 2000, 2004 and 2008, we present data and statistical tests that support the idea that less developed municipalities, few populated, located in the Northeast region and whose economies are more dependent on public sector have a pro-government bias. That is, in these locations, more than in the rest of the country, local government tends to align with the federal government. This trend seems to provide a good explanation for the withdrawal of the PFL in municipalities with the characteristics specified above. The results presented here indicate the centrality of federal power in the Brazilian political system and the difficulty of survival faced by opposition party especially when it does not control important state governments, as was the case of PFL from 2006.
Political party; Party system; PFL; Local elections; Federal government power
