GeoDesp: A Database that Identifies where Candidates Spend their Campaign Expenses^*

Abstract

In this technical note, we present an unprecedented database that solves a major problem in the study of electoral strategies: The lack of data to identify where, when, and how candidates carry out activities during the electoral campaign. The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has made available the records of income and spending during each candidate’s campaign. Among the many pieces of information contained therein, we collected the bank and branch numbers of the beneficiaries of the transactions indicated by the candidates and cross-referenced them with a list of bank branch addresses in Brazil. From these cross-references, we were able to georeference the spending of candidates for the national legislature for the whole country and thus build a proxy of campaign strategies in the electoral contest. This unprecedented database will allow us to advance our understanding of how electoral campaigns are designed, what strategies are employed, and how the relationship between representatives and citizens takes place, since it will be possible to dissociate campaign efforts from the outcome of the election.

electoral strategies; campaign spending; electoral geography; 2018 elections