Presidentialism, federalism and cartelized oligarchy in Brazil (1889-1930): The dynamics of power in the República Velha

Abstract

The present work analyzes the institutional construction and the dynamics of the political actors through the First Brazilian Republic, also known as República Velha (1989-1930). It is argued that this form of federative republic shows an important distance compared to the Philadelphia model. This is due to the combination of both formal and informal institutions, despite showing less power concentration related to the functional dimension and in the territorial dimension as well, remains different from the North American case. The República Velha can achieves political stability from the the instauration of a cartelized oligarchic system, which is also known as política do café com leite by the historiography. This political concept describes the agreements between both Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais oligarchies.