The color of the elected: determinants of the political under-representation of non-whites in Brazil

It seems beyond controversy that national politics in Brazil is mostly white. Recent assessments indicate that the proportion of blacks in the federal parliament has never exceeded a mere 9%. Despite this apparent marginalization, there is scant information about the causes of this political under-representation. This article aims to clarify the filters that keep non-white, black and brown people out of Brazilian politics. Therefore, an evaluation was conducted on the colors of candidates running for city councilor in the 2012 elections in the country's two largest cities: São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Given the lack of official records on the race or color of those candidates, we decided to submit their photos provided by the Electoral Supreme Court, to be classified by a team of researchers. The results allowed understanding to what extent the political alienation of non-white Brazilians is a result of: (i) biases in party recruitment; (ii) differences in educational capital and property between white and non-white candidates; (iii) inequalities in the distribution of party and electoral resources; or (iv) voters' own electoral preferences. Apparently, the electoral chances of blacks and browns reflect those groups' difficulties to ascend to the small elite of candidates who have the largest funds and most votes.

Race; elections; political representation; political inequality; municipal elections.