Author:

Marlon da Mota Martins

ABSTRACT:

This dissertation seeks to examine the interests that guide the modus operandi of the elites of the Rural Caucus in the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil during the 55ª Legislature (2015-2019), and its interrelation with the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, Food Supply and Rural Development and with the Brazilian National Congress in general. The historical formation of the Rural Caucus began in the second half of the 1980s in the context of intensifying the struggle for agrarian reform and is related to three events: the creation of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), the emergence of Democratic Ruralist Union (UDR) and the installation of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC). The research problem is based on the following question: which interests guide the modus operandi of the elites who are part of the Rural Caucus in the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil during the 55ª Legislature (2015-2019)? The hypothesis is that, because it is one of the most well-organized groups around both organizational and social interests, the Rural Caucus has greater bargaining power and success in passing laws and overturning presidential vetoes in the Brazilian National Congress. In this sense, partisan as well as individual and social interests have guided their successful way of acting in the Brazilian parliament. The literature on elite theory, especially that on
democratic elitism, will support the understanding of how the interests of the Rural Caucus are formed and how it acts collectively. The fundamental proposition of pluralistic democratic elitism revolves around authority and the struggle for political power between elites representing diverse social interests. From this perspective, elites, besides being considered endowed with moral functions, are more apt to
govern and to solve the demands of civil society Thus, the Rural Caucus defends, in the National Congress, both interests of the agribusiness and diffuse social interests, in a relatively balanced, rational and responsive way. The reconstitution of this process will be supported by illustrative case studies of conflicts of interest opposing the Rural Caucus, on the one hand, and the federal government or other interest
groups, on the other hand.