Anti-poverty Programs and Vote-Buying Strategies

Abstract

In a context where personal relations play a central role in structuring political life, to what extent should a researcher differentiate ``normal'' from ``deviant'' political behavior? This chapter addresses this question from a socio-anthropological point of view, analyzing the use of anti-poverty programs for vote-buying purposes in Northeast Brazil. More specifically, the objective of this chapter is to describe the mobilization of a political machine directly involving anti-poverty programs during election times. The aim here is to describe the dynamics of vote buying in Northeast Brazil, especially through the cooptation of social workers and the use of their formal attributions to increase vote-buying effectiveness among the poorest.