ABSTRACT
This article analyzes the ideas of the “moderate transition” project led by the PMDB, with the goal of understanding why a conservative political elite accepted a social rights’ agenda during the democratic transition. I argue that the appeal of this idea is due to the perception that social inequality would threaten the stability of the new order. I also show that this same view was present in the foundation of the PSDB.
KEYWORDS:
PMDB; PSDB; democratic transition; 1988 Constitution; political ideas