In a discussion of the patron-client relation within Brazilian politics, the article takes as an example political favors asked of Rui Barbosa when he was the provisional government’s Minister of the Treasury. It endeavors to demonstrate how the prevalence of patron-client values and practices carried over from the monarchy to the Republic. The argument is posed that patronage, from which the patron-client relation derives, was deeply embedded in Brazilian society and from there moved into politics. As a consequence, egalitarian values and the notion of res publica, which in thesis should have been an integral part of the new regime’s practices, did not find propitious ground upon which to develop. Citizens became "doutor cidadão", while politicians became "cousin and friend".
patron-client relation; Brazilian politics; patronage; Rui Barbosa
