THE LEFT IN BRAZIL

4/5/2010

What is “the Left”?

Economic intervention Taxation Level of regulation Ownership of

infrastructure State as creditor State as enterprise Price and production

controls

Social intervention Provision for social

goods Social welfare programs Provision of social

services Establishing social

justice

There is no single, agreed upon definition or measurement

The ability and willingness of the state to intervene in non-political spheres:

What is “the Left”?

Specific ideas and programs vary between countries

Two broad political agendas which the Left today tends to encompass: Socioeconomic reform: the redistribution of

the economic benefits of society in order to achieve a more equal outcome

Deepening democracy: offering opportunities to genuinely engage in the political life of the country to a wider range of its citizens

What is “the Left”?

How do we measure success? External evaluation

Macroeconomic indicators such as GDP Quality of democracy Human Development Index and the

Millennium Development Goals Internal evaluation:

Efficiency of state intervention progress towards achieving stated goals

Immediate impact of reforms v. sustainability

Has Latin America Turned Left?

1959: Cuba, Castro* 1990: Chile**, Concertación 1999: Venezuela*, Chávez 2003: Brazil*, Lula

Argentina*, Kirchner 2005: Uruguay*, Vázquez

* Reelected * Reversed

2006: Bolivia, MoralesPeru, GarcíaHonduras,

Zelaya** 2007: Nicaragua, Ortega

Ecuador, CorreaGuatemala, Colom

2008: Paraguay, Méndez 2009: El Salvador, Funes

Reelection of the left Majority support

Consistently increasing vote share since the early 1990s Preference for moderates

Turning Left

General Factors Democracies with high inequality tend towards

redistributive measures associated with leftist politics Anger over the failure of economic policies

associated with previous democratic regimes Younger citizens become a more important electoral

force. Younger citizens have only known democracy and so may

be more sensitive to its shortcomings Younger citizens did not live through the military

dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s and thus may be more tolerant of non-democratic leaders

The dirty wars destroyed radical leftist groups and raised popular fears of communism but did not address underlying causes (poverty and inequality). The left has thus reemerged with time and in new forms.

Turning Left: Brazil’s Path

The Workers’ Party (PT) forms in 1980 as the voice of “new unionism”

The PT does not participate in the behind-the-scenes dealing during the transition to democracy (1985)

The PT organizes and wins local political positions Internal democracy Participatory governing structures

Turning Left: Brazil’s Path

Success at the local level builds and the PT gains more and higher political positions

The election of Lula to the presidency in 2002 Issues of scale: broadening of the number

of groups that form the party base Issues of scope: broadening of the number

of issues the base expects the PT to deal with competently

Turning Left: Brazil’s Path

Attempts to deliver social change without alienating either the public or the market Market instability surrounding Lula’s election

pressured his commitment to continuing previous macroeconomic policies and respecting IMF agreements Reduced pensions (apx. 30%), wages (apx. 12%),

and social programs (apx. 10%) – initially Since Lula took power, Brazil's social spending

increased to 17 billion reals ($8 billion) in 2005 from 6 billion reals in 2002

4.25% of GDP (approx. 50 billion USD) set aside to meet foreign debt payments

Lula repaid Brazil’s IMF loans early – in 2005

Turning Left: Brazil’s Path

Bolsa Familia Direct cash transfer program, R$15-$95 (US$7-$45)

per month 94% of the funds reach the poorest 40% of the

population Most of the money is used to buy food, school

supplies, and children’s clothes Inexpensive and has a real impact on the lived

experience of its 46 million recipients Poverty fell 27% during Lula’s first term in office Income inequality fell by 4.6% from 1995 and 2004

Does not address the root causes of poverty and may increase dependence on the state