The Bolsonaro Voter: Issue Positions and Vote Choice in the 2018 Brazilian Presidential Elections
Abstract
The 2018 Brazilian elections saw the rise to power of Jair Bolsonaro, yet another conservative politician who won an election in recent years. What were the ideological underpinnings of the Bolsonaro vote? Was his support based exclusively on resentment toward the Workers’ Party? This article uses a unique public opinion dataset, the 2018 Brazilian Electoral Panel Study, to explore how positions on divisive issues related to social, political, and cultural factors influenced vote choice and Bolsonarismo —affection toward Bolsonaro supporters—in the 2018 Brazilian presidential elections. Results indicate that in addition to resentment against the Workers’ Party, a cultural backlash perspective, and strict views on law and order, as well as economic liberalism and rejection of social policies, were the characteristics of support for Bolsonaro.
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The notion of a clear and recent bolsonarista identity is far more concrete, laying the grounds for a negative antibolsonarista social identity.
“The notion of a clear and recent bolsonarista identity, however, is far more concrete (Rennó 2020), laying the grounds for a negative antibolsonarista social identity.”
From Them’ without ‘us’: Negative identities and affective polarization in Brazil (2022) · cites this paper as Rennó 2020
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The Origins and Consequences of Affective Polarization in the United States
Iyengar, S., Lelkes, Y., Levendusky, M., Malhotra, N., & Westwood, S. J. (2019) · Annual Review of Political Science · doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-051117-073034 · Cited by 3,317 · see citing works
Iyengar, S., Sood, G., & Lelkes, Y. (2012) · Public Opinion Quarterly · doi:10.1093/poq/nfs038 · Cited by 2,748 · see citing works
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Them’ without ‘us’: Negative identities and affective polarization in Brazil
Areal, J. (2022) · Political Research Exchange · doi:10.1080/2474736x.2022.2117635 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Palacios Brihuega, I., Garrido Rubia, A., & Martínez Rodríguez, A. (2025) · Revista Internacional de Sociología · doi:10.3989/ris.2024.82.4.1304 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Rennó, L. R.
- ORCID
- Rennó, Lucio R.
- Venue
- Latin American Politics and Society
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2020-07-16
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1-23
- ISSN
- 1531-426X (ISSN-L)
- 1548-2456
- OpenAlex
- W3043725943
- Cited by
- 198
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 25 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 40 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 5
- FWCI
- 82.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Latin American Politics and Society (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Politics and Society in Latin America
- Keywords
- Jair Bolsonaro, 2018 Brazilian presidential election, vote choice, issue positions, Bolsonarism, Workers' Party, political resentment, cultural backlash, economic liberalism, social policy attitudes, conservative voters, Brazilian politics
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