Provincial origins of the Brazilian state: Rio de Janeiro, the monarchy, and national political organization, 1808-1853

Abstract

This study addresses the provincial origins and role of the reactionary party that legislated the reconstruction of the Brazilian monarchy, perhaps Latin America's most stable nineteenth-century political regime. The study locates the party in temrs of regional power, taking into account social, economic, and political factors. It analyzes the party's idiology in the historical context of the Regency (1831-1840) and its immediate aftermath, an era of destabilization, social war, and secessionism. The study also demonstrates how the party mobilized partisan support nationally to consolidate party and state power, the unexpected impact of partronage, and the incresingly autonomous quality of state power over time. © 2001.