Patterns of electoral financing in Brazil: the incoming of candidates for deputies in 2010 and 2014

Abstract

Since 2006, when the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) has publicly released the campaign finance of candidates, parties and committees, there has been a significant increase in the number of works that analyze the financing of campaigns in Brazil. However, with the role played by the companies, the importance and impact of other revenues have been little analyzed. The purpose here is to fill in part of this gap, detailing how much each of the resources contributes to the total collected and how much the competitors differ in funding. For that, the electoral accounts of candidates for the Câmara dos Deputados in the elections of 2010 and 2014 were analyzed. Methodologically, descriptive statistics and mean difference tests were combined. The results indicate that electoral performance is associated not only with the revenues volume, but also with the high presence of some types of donors, such as companies and parties. The candidate position in relation to the federal government, on the other hand, affects the mean of raised, but it is not a good criterion for evaluating the way in which the candidates are financed.

Keywords:
campaigns financing; electoral revenues; elections 2010 and 2014; House of Representatives; Brazil