The democratic character of representative institutions depends on the ties that elections can create between representatives' action and their constituents' will. In that process, information is a key element-information about politicians' former behavior, about their programmes, about public agenda. A wide literature had discussed the influence of the main providers of information in contemporary societies (the mass media) on the relations between representatives and constituents. But Brazilian political field has peculiarities that put international literature in perspective.
political representation; mass media; elections; Brazilian politics
