May a business man support a left wing political party? To answer this question, the author defines left as the political ideology that accepts to risk social order in name of social justice. If this is done moderately, if the political party adopts a center-left position, there will be no inconsistency. In modern democracies, political parties on the left and on the right fight for the support of the ideological center, and tend to converge to it. What to say on that question in the case of Brazil? Here, as in Latin America, moderate left-wing political parties often win elections but seldom govern. This paradox is explained by the conservative character of Latin American elites. Latin America is formed of dependent countries striving in a highly competitive world where national strategies are required to grow. In principle, one would expect that the left would be a national left, but since the "dependency theory" declared that a national bourgeoisie was impossible in Latin America, an alliance between progressive business men and the left became more difficult but, also, the left and the intellectuals tended to become dependent or cosmopolitan.
The left, the right and the center; Political parties; National dependency