Destination Federal Senate: influence of political careers on arrival at the federation house

Abstract

Studying the political careers and the social background (academic degrees and professions prior entering the political field) of elected Brazilian Senators, with this paper it’s expected to analyze whether former Governors and Mayors had shorter careers compared to those who made careers only in the Legislative power; and if politicians who had never won elections had a prominent social background compared to professional politicians. Once applied the statistical tests there were no disparities in exclusively executive careers in relation to strictly legislative ones, with shorter career periods and number of previous mandates only compared to those politicians who held positions in both powers. The levels of political experience were also not linked to a distinct social background, presenting the Federal Senate trough 1994 to 2014 composed by professional politicians with high socio-occupational position.

Keywords

• brazilian federal senate
• political careers
• social background