Abstract
This article aims to understand the relationships between manifestations of subjective configurations and the political participation of party leaders of the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira in Espirito Santo - PSDB/ES. A historical-cultural approach was adopted for this article, combined with discussion of political participation in political parties. It is a qualitative case study based on qualitative epistemology of Gonzalez Rey (2003a). The data was collected between April/2011 and March/2013 by means of questionnaire, writing, participant observation and group and individual conversations with leaders of the PSDB/ES. The results revealed subjective configurations of individual political participation, built around issues such as: the embarrassment of assuming political participation; to feel and to not feel ruling; to admire or criticize the party leaders; disappointments with the Brazilian party system; to wish for adjustments in the management of the party and politics in Brazil. In conclusion, motivations, barriers and constraints of leaders drive them to the dilemma of participate (in different ways) or not participating of politics.
Keywords:
subjectivity; subjective configurations; political participation; parties