The Right to Practice Politics: Parties and Political Leadership in São Miguel Paulista

This chapter analyzes the political parties in the neighborhood of São Miguel, with particular emphasis on the Brazilian Communist Party and on the movements that were forged around the leaders Adhemar de Barros and Jânio Quadros. The chapter’s themes include the structuring of political parties in the area; how and in what circumstances partisan options were defined; the role of elections; and the relationship at election time between neighborhood-based microquestions and statewide and national issues. The chapter seeks to go beyond understanding relationships between “populist” politicians and the working class as focused only on labor and unions, or as simply a relation between “charismatic” leaders and an “amorphous” mass. By considering the neighborhood and taking social and political relationships as the object of analysis, it aims to achieve a more sophisticated understanding of the political system of the period.