Abstract
The article exposes the main arguments and intellectual influences of UDN’s bachelors. In this effort, it presents the political thought of public actors like Afonso Arinos, Bilac Pinto, Aliomar Baleeiro, Milton Campos and Prado Kelly. For this task, it analyses juridical writings, parliamentary speeches, memories and other intellectual writings for a comprehensive view of this thought which is linked to action but is also an expression of a more transcendent worldview. The article is divided in three parts. Firstly, it exposes the self-image of bachelors, opposed to the concept of jurists, and distinguishes two ideal types: the modernizers and the conservatives. The second section argues the relevance of liberal discourse in their political decisions. Finally, the work analyses the relation between elites and law in their arguments, with the purpose of better understand the political mission of these actors and their trajectories during the Republic of 1946.
Keywords:
UDN; Bachelors; Jurists; Liberalism; Republic of 1946