The purpose of this article is to analyze political professionalization and its effects in four Brazilian parties - Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (PMDB), Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB) and Democratas (DEM). Data used in the article come from a survey with 120 candidates to federal deputy equally distributed among the four parties. An index for political professionalization was created from a conceptual definition. As a result, it was found that there are less "professional politicians" and more "occasional politicians" among the candidates of the four parties in 2010 elections. The trend is more pronounced among the center-right candidates. Professional politicians and occasional politicians have different perceptions about the aspects that matter for defining the composition of the list and the chances of electoral success.
political professionalization; political parties; recruitment process
