This article is the result of research carried out in the two main legislative houses of the state of Mato Grosso: the Legislature (Assembléia Legislativa (ALMT)) - and the Municipal Chamber of Cuiabá (Câmara Municipal de Cuiabá (CMC)). Altogether, 20 years were covered in the ALMT and 22 in the CMC, totaling five legislative periods in each of the houses, as of 1983. It reflects on the profile of these parliaments through political party composition, professional background and the experiences of collective organizations, among others, identifying the enormous ability to perpetuate power on the part of members of the parliament, whether through the electoral process or through the management of state enterprises. Making particular use of the works of Claus Offe and Max Weber, we confront both Offe's premises, according to which entrepreneurs use power structures to promote valorization of capital, and Weber's. In the latter's view, those with a political vocation are those that live for politics and therefore, have the material resources that guarantee their independence, which is different from those who live from politics, in other words, those who depend upon politics for their survival. Analysis of research data enable us to identify strong elements that would corroborate the first premise, but cast doubt on the second. In consolidating the means to conserve institutional arrangements, whether by re-election, campaign for a new elected office or through exercising administrative positions within government organs, these members of parliament are putting together their legislative tools for the preservation and widening of their private and class interests, just as Claus Offe has identified. Thus, as they come to live for politics, they in turn also begin to live from politics.
Legislative power; political parties; power; political renovation; Mato Grosso
