The Governors' Policy was a political agreement signed during the period of the Old Republic (1889-1930).
The intention was to unite the interests of local politicians marked by the state oligarchies of the time together with the federal government, in order to guarantee the control of political power.
Historical Context:Summary
During the government of São Paulo Campos Salles (1898-1902) the federal power was united to the state oligarchies concentrated in the hands of the landowners. The aim was to establish a friendly relationship between the parties.
In this way, the exchange of favors was clear:the federal government granted political power and freedom, as well as economic benefits to the state oligarchies.
In exchange, they favored the choice of candidates through open voting, commanded and manipulated by the colonels, who represented the local force.
With this, it is clear that the local elites dominated the political and economic scene of the states, being monopolized by noble families and often commanded by the colonels.
This movement became known as "coronelismo", in which they shared the methodology of the halter vote (open vote). This enabled corruption from electoral fraud and vote buying. Furthermore, the increase in violence through the domination of the colonels in the so-called “electoral corrals”.
Through the “Commission of Verification of Powers”, the legitimacy of elected governors in the states was manipulated.
This reinforced the governors' policy in the face of the screening made by the colonels supported and confident of the federal power.
If necessary, opposition politicians were excluded, who suffered “sticking”, that is, electoral fraud, being prevented from taking office.
This policy was confused with the café au lait policy. In this model, the mine farmers, who dominated the dairy production, and the landowners from São Paulo, coffee producers, took turns in power in the presidency of the country.
However, different from that, the governors' policy promoted such a structure necessary for its consolidation later on.
Indeed, São Paulo and Minas Gerais dominated the country's political and economic scene. In the second half of the 19th century, Brazil was the largest producer and exporter of coffee.
Since the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889, whose monarchical model was replaced by a republican presidential structure, the figure of the president became the most important.
The oligarchies that owned and controlled the local state power began to develop strategies with the federal power.
This method of benefiting large landowners and the federal government only ended with the Vargas Era (1930-1945) and as a consequence strengthened the figure of the colonels.
In addition to the government of Campos Sales, the creator of the policy, other presidents of the old republic period took advantage of the Governors' Policy system:
- Rodrigues Alves (1902 to 1906)
- Afonso Pena (1906 to 1909)
- Nilo Peçanha (1909 to 1910)
- Hermes da Fonseca (1910 to 1914)
- Venceslau Brás (1914 to 1918)
- Delfim Moreira (1918 to 1919)
- Epitacio Pessoa (1919 to 1922)
- Arthur Bernardes (1922 to 1926)
- Washington Louis (1926 to 1930)
To learn more :
- First Republic
- Halt Vote
- Oligarchy
- Constitution of 1934
- Revolution of 1930