Why Bolsonaro was almost re-elected

Guest lecture by Mara Telles (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil).

Why did the Brazilian voters almost re-elect president Jair Bolsonaro, despite overwhelming evidence of bad governance? Mara Telles is one of the outstanding experts on electoral behaviour with a large experience in empirical research. based on this data, she will explain the variables – between ideology, sentiment and religious faith – which contributed to the far-right shift in Brazil. The far-right is still a powerful political factor, as has been shown by the recent Brazilian version of the “Capitol Attack”.

Before the lecture, we will screen the documentary “The Stars are to blame: a manifestation” (BR 2015, 23min., dir. Fernando Vaz, Helcimara Telles, Regina Helena Alvis). This film was produced during fieldwork carried out among the protestors claiming the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff. The documented arguments and attitudes already reveal the extremist thought that Bolsonaro turned into official politics.

Mara Telles is a political scientist specialising in electoral behaviour, political marketing and public opinion. She is president of the Brazilian Association of Electoral Research (ABRAPEL), a board member of the Latin American Association of Election Campaign Research (ALICE) and Brazil’s representative at the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR). For years, she has conducted extensive empirical research among the far-right electorate in Brazil. Currently, Mara Telles leads a joint research project on the extreme right and religious activism.

The event takes place in English, everyone is welcome.