Le fédéralisme comme expérience: Campos Sales et les tentatives de stabilisation de la République

Abstract

This article suggests an alternative interpretation of the política dos estados or política dos governadores [politics of the governors] established byCampos Sales during his time as President of Brazil. Bymeans of an analysis of the dynamics of the procedure for the verification of credentials, of the electoral laws, and of the memories shaped in the process, we seek to prove that the impact of the reform was limited to Sales’ term in office from 1898-1902, prompting us to challenge the consolidated argument on the oligarchy in the First Brazilian Republic, which claims that the policy Sales proposed and implemented was responsible for stabilizing the political conflicts that placed the executive and parliament in opposition. The article thus demonstrates the persistence of previously existing conflicts, and suggests that the changes proposed to the regime did little to stabilize such conflicts.