The electoral performance of the PCB as popular representation: a case study – the 1954 elections in São Paulo

Abstract

This article points out the recognition, by the specialized bibliography, of the PCB as the majority representation of the working class electorate in its period of legality in the post-war period in the most industrialized regions of the country. It demonstrates how this condition was built in the practice of electoral campaigns, in the way of promoting the registration of new voters, of financing campaigns and in the launch of workers' and popular candidates. It argues that, due to this representation of the “demos”, the veto to the legal action of the PCB in 1947 and to its candidates by other parties in the following elections, constituted one of the central elements of the “internalization of the Cold War”, which restricted the democratic potential open from 1945 to 1947 to a liberal class order.

Keywords

• elections
• communist party
• working class