RETRACTION AND PRIORITIZATION: PARTY STRATEGIES WHEN FACING THE BAN ON CITY COUNCIL ELECTORAL COALITIONS

Abstract

The nationalization of political parties is a topic that has gained traction in the context of changes in Brazilian electoral rules, particularly the end of coalitions for proportional elections. The main question investigated in this article is: how did the changes in electoral rules between 2000 and 2020 impact the participation of Brazilian parties in municipal elections? The primary goal is to assess whether these changes led to an increase or reduction in party participation in municipal elections for the Legislative branch and how this affected the nationalization of the Brazilian party system. We use the Lago and Montero Nationalization Index to evaluate the territorial reach of the parties and their electoral competition strategies. In addition, we analyze each party's territorial presence, party fragmentation at the municipal level, and the success rates of parties in municipal elections. As a result, we found that following the end of coalitions for proportional elections in 2020, all Brazilian parties exhibited reduced territorial presence without a proportional decrease in candidacies, along with party defragmentation in Municipal Councils. The conclusions point to a denationalization of Brazilian parties in response to the new institutional environment, indicating a strategic adaptation of the parties to survive and thrive in this new context.