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Parties for Rent? Ambition, Ideology, and Party Switching in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies

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  • Scott W. Desposato

Abstract

Party switching by legislators has been common in many countries, including the Philippines, Italy, Nepal, Ecuador, Russia, and Japan. While frequently dismissed as simply an indicator of a weak parties, switching provides a unique window on party systems. To the extent that we understand affiliation decisions, we gain insight on the way politicians use parties to advance their careers. In this article I offer a model of party‐membership patterns, where decisions to switch party or to stay put are a function of the strategic interaction of legislators and endogenous party leaders. I test the model on the case of Brazil, where switching is common. Results suggest that Brazilian legislators use parties to maximize pork, ideological consistency, and short‐term electoral success, but which of these matters most depends on constituents, i.e., legislators use parties for different purposes in different electoral environments. The approach developed here could easily be applied to study legislative behavior in other political systems.

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  • Scott W. Desposato, 2006. "Parties for Rent? Ambition, Ideology, and Party Switching in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(1), pages 62-80, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:50:y:2006:i:1:p:62-80
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2006.00170.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Jean-François Laslier & Bilge Ozturk Goktuna, 2016. "Opportunist politicians and the evolution of electoral competition," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 381-406, May.
    2. Daniele, Gianmarco & Galletta, Sergio & Geys, Benny, 2020. "Abandon ship? Party brands and politicians' responses to a political scandal," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Sabyasachi Das & Souvik Dutta & Abhirup Sarkar, 2019. "Political Economy of Third Party Interventions," Working Papers 1029, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    4. Das, Sabyasachi & Dutta, Souvik & Sarkar, Abhirup, 2021. "Political economy of third party interventions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    5. Ferraz, Claudio & Finan, Frederico S., 2007. "Electoral Accountability and Corruption in Local Governments: Evidence from Audit Reports," IZA Discussion Papers 2843, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. José Antonio Cheibub & Monika Nalepa, 2020. "Revisiting electoral personalism," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 32(1), pages 3-10, January.
    7. Henrique Augusto Campos Fernandez Hott & Sergio Naruhiko Sakurai, 2021. "Party switching and political outcomes: evidence from Brazilian municipalities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 187(3), pages 403-438, June.
    8. Makkar, Karan, 2023. "Defector Politicians and Economic Growth: Evidence from India," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. William B. Heller & Carol Mershon, 2008. "Dealing in Discipline: Party Switching and Legislative Voting in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, 1988–2000," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 910-925, October.
    10. Emanuele Brancati & Silvia Fedeli & Francesco Forte & Leone Leonida, 2022. "Opportunism and MPs’ chances of re-election: an analysis of political transformism in the Italian parliament," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 192(3), pages 273-308, September.
    11. Aaron R Martin, 2021. "Party group collapse and strategic switching in the European Parliament," European Union Politics, , vol. 22(3), pages 521-544, September.

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