This article sets out to analyze the characteristics of the entrepreneurial elite of the state of Paraná. Our use of typical methodologies for the study of elites and political culture, articulated for analysis of particular forms of political action, has enabled a better characterization of the political representatives of the entrepreneurial class and, in particular, of its relationship to democracy and the functioning of democratic institutions. This relationship is considered at a fundamental working level of Brazilian politics - the state. Between 2010 and 2011, we carried out interviews with the major leaders of the most important representational entities of the Paraná state entrepreneurial class. In addition to information on social, educational and political trajectory, our questionnaire also sought out justifications for opinions, evaluations and patterns of political action. We discovered that there is a certain homogeneity to be found among the Paraná state entrepreneurial elite regarding trajectories, evaluations of democratic institutions and patterns of political action, as well as a certain cohesion with regard to political values. In addition to total adhesion to democracy, informants also expressed a relative degree of satisfaction with its institutions, thereby revealing some aspects of the relationship of this elite and those it represents with politics and democracy and how in this sense the group may be distinguished from the population as a whole.
Paraná State Entrepreneurial Elite; Political Culture; Political Action; Social Trajectories; Democratic Institutions
