Based on survey results conducted in the Brazilian Presidential elections of 1989, 1994, 1998 and 2002, and the local election of São Paulo in 1996, the authors analyse the electoral behavior as a result of a strategy pattern made of three possible choices: the vote as an expression of identity with the candidate; as a belief in the candidate´s opposition capacity and as a belief in the candidate´s administrative capacity. The authors point out the link between the vote strategy as an expression of identity with the candidate Luís Inácio da Silva, Lula, in all the period. The article is based on the Brazilian Electoral Study results.
Brazilian Electoral Study; voting strategy; presidential election; political identity
