To this point research on firms’ political behavior has contributed knowledge concerning large firms’ relationships and strategies with political actors and their surrounding environment. Less is known about small firms’ behavior towards political organizations. As a matter of fact, the fields of international marketing, international business and corporate political science have left the political behavior of small firms almost untouched. Therefore, extant literature assumes that small firms due to their resource constraints are passive receivers of political initiatives. About 99 percent of all firms within the European Union are small firms, and it is therefore questioned whether all these firms are passive receivers of political initiatives. The intention with this thesis is to challenge some assumptions regarding how small firms manage their relationships with political actors concerning EU related rules and regulations. Consequently, the study raises the overarching research question; how do small firms manage their political environment? Theoretically, the study takes a network perspective on business political interaction to examine both individual and/or collective political behavior of small firms. It develops a theoretical view constituted of knowledge, commitment and legitimacy. Methodologically, two sequential stages are followed: first an in-depth qualitative case study of three successful cases is presented and second, the in-depth understanding is broadened to a wider population of firms based on a quantitative survey. A central contribution of this thesis is to aid research on the political behavior of small firms. It is found that small firms, in contrast to prevailing assumptions, do possess political resources. They are not passive receivers of political initiatives. Instead, the findings show that small firms are active and can exercise influence. This, however, is shown to be dependent on the firm’s political commitment, political knowledge and competency and business-political legitimacy. It is also shown that small firms mobilize these critical resources not only directly, but also indirectly through various intermediating actors. Besides the theoretical contributions, these conclusions are important not just because of the managerial implications but also, and perhaps more importantly, for the policy implications that can be drawn from the study. Being exploratory and opening up the black box of small firm’s political behavior, the thesis ends with a number of future research directions.

Que traduit la hausse de la participation aux élections présidentielles françaises de 2007 et américaines 2008 ? À partir d’enquêtes électorales française, américaine et canadienne, notre étude met en lumière les changements d’attitudes politiques des citoyens survenus ces dernières années et la pratique croissante d’une participation intermittente et sélective. Ces changements qui résultent de logiques d’individualisation ont permis aux individus de s’extirper de contraintes d’appartenance sociale et de s’affranchir d’allégeances partisanes. Leur jugement se fonde désormais sur une évaluation des critères de l’offre électorale. L’individualisation des valeurs en politique se traduit notamment par une évolution du sens du vote et une hiérarchisation des scrutins. Les électeurs ne se délaissent pas les élections, ils choisissent simplement de participer autrement. Plus instruits, plus autonomes et plus critiques, ces citoyens prescrivent des changements profonds de l’offre. Afin de rallier le plus grand nombre de suffrages, les candidats se voient contraints d’adapter leurs dispositifs stratégiques aux évolutions des comportements politiques des citoyens : structuration des partis, modernisation des campagnes électorales, militantisme à « la carte », nouvelles formes d’engagement politique, usage de l’Internet. Tout est fait pour que le citoyen individualisé trouve dans ces manières de faire la politique les bonnes raisons de voter. / What does the increase of the voter turnout in the 2007 French and the 2008 American presidential election mean? With the French, American and Canadian surveys, we highlight the changes in the political attitude of the citizens occurred in recent years. The voters are now practicing an intermittent and selective voting. This changing political behavior reflects a growing individualization values in politics. They are making their mind up from an assessment of the electoral issues positions, an evolution of the meaning of the vote and, a priorization of elections. Voters are not leaving the polling stations, they are only choosing to participate in different way. More educated, autonomous and critical, the citizens require deep changes in the political evaluations. So, by winning number of votes, candidates have to adapt their strategical plan of actions by including the individualized behavior of the citizens : structuring the political party, modernizing the electoral campaigns, promoting a membership “à la carte”, developing new forms of political engagement, and using the Internet. Everything is done to increase the individualized citizens vote.

Na área da Ciência Política, estudos sobre o comportamento político e eleitoral, sob diferentes perspectivas analíticas, permitem verificar um conjunto de variáveis e indicadores que elucidam aspectos da cultura política e do processo de construção democrática. O objetivo da presente tese é compreender a lógica do comportamento político de Toledo, PR, a partir da identificação das percepções, motivações e atitudes dos cidadãos em relação à política e às instituições democráticas. Os dados examinados, oriundos de pesquisas realizadas na região, evidenciam um cenário de ceticismo e de decepção frente à atuação dos políticos e do desempenho socioeconômico do regime democrático. Observou-se uma tendência do voto personalista em detrimento do voto programático/partidário, especialmente entre eleitores que expressaram baixos níveis de interesse por política, de confiança institucional e de participação política. O argumento é de que a personalização do poder e práticas como o clientelismo, o nepotismo e a corrupção estão enraizados na cultura política brasileira, apesar dos avanços na institucionalização de procedimentos poliárquicos. / In the area of political science, research on political and electoral behavior from different theoretical perspectives allows us to examine several variables and empirical indicators that enlighten political culture aspects as well as a deep understanding of the democratic construction process. The main objective of this dissertation is to understand the underlying logic of political behavior in Toledo –Parana- Brazil, based upon the analysis of perceptions, motivations and attitudes of citizens in regards to politics and political democratic institutions. The data examined through research conducted in this State show a context where cynicism and deception with politicians and government’s socio-economic performance prevail. The results also indicated a personalistic tendency to vote instead of a programmatic-partisan vote, especially among electors that showed low levels of political interest, as well as reduced indices of institutional trust and political participation. The main argument oft this study is that the personalization of political power and practices such as clientelism, nepotism and corruption are rooted in the Brazilian political culture, in spite of advances in the poliarquical formal democratic procedures.

Na área da Ciência Política, estudos sobre o comportamento político e eleitoral, sob diferentes perspectivas analíticas, permitem verificar um conjunto de variáveis e indicadores que elucidam aspectos da cultura política e do processo de construção democrática. O objetivo da presente tese é compreender a lógica do comportamento político de Toledo, PR, a partir da identificação das percepções, motivações e atitudes dos cidadãos em relação à política e às instituições democráticas. Os dados examinados, oriundos de pesquisas realizadas na região, evidenciam um cenário de ceticismo e de decepção frente à atuação dos políticos e do desempenho socioeconômico do regime democrático. Observou-se uma tendência do voto personalista em detrimento do voto programático/partidário, especialmente entre eleitores que expressaram baixos níveis de interesse por política, de confiança institucional e de participação política. O argumento é de que a personalização do poder e práticas como o clientelismo, o nepotismo e a corrupção estão enraizados na cultura política brasileira, apesar dos avanços na institucionalização de procedimentos poliárquicos. / In the area of political science, research on political and electoral behavior from different theoretical perspectives allows us to examine several variables and empirical indicators that enlighten political culture aspects as well as a deep understanding of the democratic construction process. The main objective of this dissertation is to understand the underlying logic of political behavior in Toledo –Parana- Brazil, based upon the analysis of perceptions, motivations and attitudes of citizens in regards to politics and political democratic institutions. The data examined through research conducted in this State show a context where cynicism and deception with politicians and government’s socio-economic performance prevail. The results also indicated a personalistic tendency to vote instead of a programmatic-partisan vote, especially among electors that showed low levels of political interest, as well as reduced indices of institutional trust and political participation. The main argument oft this study is that the personalization of political power and practices such as clientelism, nepotism and corruption are rooted in the Brazilian political culture, in spite of advances in the poliarquical formal democratic procedures.

Na área da Ciência Política, estudos sobre o comportamento político e eleitoral, sob diferentes perspectivas analíticas, permitem verificar um conjunto de variáveis e indicadores que elucidam aspectos da cultura política e do processo de construção democrática. O objetivo da presente tese é compreender a lógica do comportamento político de Toledo, PR, a partir da identificação das percepções, motivações e atitudes dos cidadãos em relação à política e às instituições democráticas. Os dados examinados, oriundos de pesquisas realizadas na região, evidenciam um cenário de ceticismo e de decepção frente à atuação dos políticos e do desempenho socioeconômico do regime democrático. Observou-se uma tendência do voto personalista em detrimento do voto programático/partidário, especialmente entre eleitores que expressaram baixos níveis de interesse por política, de confiança institucional e de participação política. O argumento é de que a personalização do poder e práticas como o clientelismo, o nepotismo e a corrupção estão enraizados na cultura política brasileira, apesar dos avanços na institucionalização de procedimentos poliárquicos. / In the area of political science, research on political and electoral behavior from different theoretical perspectives allows us to examine several variables and empirical indicators that enlighten political culture aspects as well as a deep understanding of the democratic construction process. The main objective of this dissertation is to understand the underlying logic of political behavior in Toledo –Parana- Brazil, based upon the analysis of perceptions, motivations and attitudes of citizens in regards to politics and political democratic institutions. The data examined through research conducted in this State show a context where cynicism and deception with politicians and government’s socio-economic performance prevail. The results also indicated a personalistic tendency to vote instead of a programmatic-partisan vote, especially among electors that showed low levels of political interest, as well as reduced indices of institutional trust and political participation. The main argument oft this study is that the personalization of political power and practices such as clientelism, nepotism and corruption are rooted in the Brazilian political culture, in spite of advances in the poliarquical formal democratic procedures.

Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2017-07-25T11:57:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 naraoliveirasalles.pdf: 2596913 bytes, checksum: fefd345e52f5bb2ca56fe143206fde5c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-08-08T19:04:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 naraoliveirasalles.pdf: 2596913 bytes, checksum: fefd345e52f5bb2ca56fe143206fde5c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-08T19:04:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 naraoliveirasalles.pdf: 2596913 bytes, checksum: fefd345e52f5bb2ca56fe143206fde5c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-25 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Diante da polarização das eleições presidenciais, protagonizada pelo Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) e pelo Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB) desde 1994, este estudo se propõe a investigar se e em que medida tal clivagem se reproduz nos municípios, estruturando percepções e identidades dos eleitores. Este tema remete a diferentes campos da Ciência Política, como os de partidos e sistemas partidários e comportamento político. A literatura, através de autores como Michels (1982), Kirchheimer (1966) e Katz e Mair (1995), aponta as transformações vividas pelos partidos políticos nas democracias contemporâneas, ressaltando o progressivo distanciamento entre as agremiações e as bases sociais, além da desideologização de seus discursos e ações. Tais mudanças dialogariam com características inerentes ao sistema partidário brasileiro que contribuem, para Lamounier (1992) e Kinzo (1993), para a intensa fragmentação, a alta volatilidade e acentuado regionalismo das disputas. Nesse sentido, umas das consequências seria a desarticulação entre as arenas competitivas, favorecendo a existência da racionalidade política contextual nos municípios, como descreve Lima Júnior (1983). O conjunto desses fatores dificultaria o estabelecimento de vínculos entre o eleitorado e os partidos, segundo Mair (1997), uma vez que eles dependeriam da estabilidade entre as atuações das siglas e de maior enraizamento dos partidos. Contudo, Veiga (2007) e Ribeiro, Carreirão e Borba (2011) indicam que as preferências e as identidades partidárias no Brasil, apesar de reduzidas, não são desprezíveis. A literatura sobre socialização política, por sua vez, aponta fatores determinantes para a constituição de tais laços, como os aspectos socioeconômicos, afetivos e racionais. Assim, interessa descobrir como os eleitores estruturam suas percepções perante um cenário em que há um consolidado bipartidarismo nacional, (des)alinhamentos na esfera local e crescente distanciamento entre indivíduos e organizações partidárias. A hipótese é a de que a reprodução da polarização PT-PSDB nos municípios não se estabelece de maneira automática e homogênea, sendo mediada por atributos dos arranjos locais. Assim, espera-se maior rivalidade entre o eleitorado que se encontra em localidades cuja competição se alinha à nacional do que nos municípios em que PT e PSDB estabelecem alianças. Para verificar tal hipótese, desenvolveu-se uma primeira etapa de investigação, que buscou categorizar os municípios de pequeno e médio porte do estado de Minas Gerais, entre o período de 2000 a 2012, de acordo com as seguintes variáveis: comportamento do PT e do PSDB nas eleições majoritárias, desempenho eleitoral de ambos os partidos, organização partidária local e número de filiados no município. Essa análise permitiu selecionar um caso de aliança plena entre os partidos e outro de polarização alta, onde foram realizados três grupos focais com eleitores neutros, simpatizantes e filiados. Os dados coletados permitiram elaborar duas considerações principais: (1) por mais que a clivagem PT-PSDB se reproduza no nível local, ela é mediada por atributos do arranjo político municipal; (2) a aliança local entre PT e PSDB não garante a inexistência de outro tipo de fragmentação e rivalidade e nem implica na incapacidade de os eleitores elaborarem distinções entre os partidos. Nesse sentido, sugere-se a ideia de polarização contextualizada para compreender tal configuração. / In the face of the presidential elections’ polarization, led by the Workers’ Party (PT, in Portuguese) and the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy (PSDB, in Portuguese) since 1994, the purpose of this research is investigate if and how this cleavage reproduce itself in the cities, arranging the voters’ perceptions and identities. This topic refers to different Political Science’s fields, as the parties and the parties system and the political behavior. The literature, through authors like Michels (1982), Kirchheimer (1966) and Katz and Mair (1995), points the parties’ changes in the nowadays democracies. They emphasize the growing distance between the voters and the parties, beyond the ideology’s reduction in their speeches and actions. These changes are associated to the inherent features of the Brazilian party system that could contribute, to Lamounier (1992) and Kinzo (1993), to the intensive fragmentation, high volatility and strong regionalism in the competitions. Therefore, the disarticulation among the arenas would be one of the consequences of this conjuncture, confirming the concept of contextual political rationality, elaborated by Lima Junior (1983). All these factors would raise difficulties to bond the voters and the parties, according to Mair (1997), because it would depend on the stability between the parties’ actions and their rooting. However, Veiga (2007) and Ribeiro, Carreirão and Borba (2011) show that, despite the low preferences and identities among the voters in Brazil, the rates are not insignificant. The political socialization’s literature, on its turns, indicates determinant factors to this relationship, as the socioeconomics, emotional and rational elements. So, this study intends to understand how the voters organize their perceptions in front of a national bipartisan conjuncture, but with a local (mis)alignment and a growing distance between the voters and the parties. The hypothesis suggests the reproduction of the PT-PSDB’s polarization in the cities is not automatic and homogeneous, but it is mediated by the local arrangement components. Thus, a stronger competition among the voters is expected at the cities where the conjuncture follows the national pattern than at the cities where PT and PSDB are allies. A categorizing and quantitative research was developed to test this hypothesis. In this moment, the small and medium-size cities from Minas Gerais were classified according to the following variables for 2000-2012 period of time: PT and PSDB’ behaviour in the majoritarian elections, their electoral results, local party’s organization and affiliate’s number. This analysis allowed select an entire alliance between the parties and a case of high polarization, where three focal groups were realized with neuters, sympathizers and affiliate voters. The collected data enabled to elaborate two main considerations: (1) even if the PT-PSDB’s cleavage reproduces itself in the cities, it is mediated by local factors; (2) the local alliance between PT and PSDB does not assure the absence of other fragmentation and antagonism and it neither implies that the voters not be able to distinguish these parties. Therefore, this study suggests thinking this conjuncture by the idea of the contextualized polarization.

Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2017-08-28T10:42:21Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-08-30T14:34:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-30T14:34:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2016-05-19 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / As leis de combate à corrupção eleitoral (9840/99 e 135/10) que resultaram de projetos de iniciativa popular evidenciam a existência de, pelo menos, dois tipos de comportamento político frente à corrupção no Brasil de hoje. Cidadãos dispostos a trocar o voto ou a votar em políticos notoriamente corruptos evidenciam um comportamento permissivo em relação à corrupção. Cidadãos que se engajaram na coleta de assinaturas evidenciam um comportamento combativo em relação à corrupção. Essa tese tem como questão central a compreensão da coexistência das duas condutas diferentes e opostas frente à corrupção no Brasil, uma permissiva e outra combativa, identificando fatores e variáveis associados a cada uma delas. Consideramos a hipótese de que os diferentes modos de reagir à corrupção estão associados a fatores culturais e socioeconômicos, mais especificamente, ao controle diferenciado de recursos por parte dos cidadãos e seu grau de envolvimento em projetos coletivos (associativismo). Nesses termos, consideramos o comportamento político como um fenômeno associado à cultura política, à racionalidade econômica e à experiência associativa. O estudo de Putnam (2006) sintetiza as principais referências teóricas dessa tese, isto é, a Teoria da Cultura Política e a Teoria da Escolha Racional. Apresentamos ao longo da tese proposições teóricas e evidências empíricas difundidas na literatura especializada que reforçam a hipótese. Além disso, realizamos um estudo de casos através de entrevistas individuais guiadas por um roteiro semiestruturado. A amostra foi composta por 16 cidadãos residentes em Juiz de Fora entre os quais oito informantes engajaram-se na coleta de assinaturas a favor das leis mencionadas e oito não se engajaram naquele projeto. O resultado reforça a suposição de que os dois tipos de comportamento político frente à corrupção estão associados aos fatores culturais, ao controle diferenciado sobre recursos socioeconômicos e à experiência associativa. / The laws against electoral corruption (9840/99 and 135/10) that resulted from popular initiative projects demonstrate the existence of at least two types of political behavior against corruption in Brazil today. Citizens willing to exchange the vote or vote in notoriously corrupt politicians show a permissive attitude towards corruption. Citizens who engaged in collecting signatures show a combative attitude towards corruption. This thesis is a central issue to understand the coexistence of two different and opposite behavior against the corruption in Brazil, a permissive and other combative, identifying factors and variables associated with each. We consider the hypothesis that the different ways of reacting to corruption are associated with cultural and socioeconomic factors, specifically the differential control of resources by the citizens and their degree of involvement in collective projects (associations). In these terms, we consider the political behavior as a phenomenon associated with political culture, economic rationality and associative experience. The study of Putnam (2006) summarizes the main theoretical references of this thesis, that is, the Theory of Political Culture and the Theory of Rational Choice. Here along the thesis theoretical propositions and empirical evidence disseminated in the literature that support the hypothesis. In addition, we conducted a case study through individual interviews guided by a semi-structured script. The sample consisted of 16 residents in Juiz de Fora including eight informants have engaged in collecting signatures in favor of the laws mentioned and eight are not engaged in that project. The result reinforces the assumption that the two types of political behavior against corruption are associated with cultural factors, to the differentiated control over socio-economic resources and associative experience.

Submitted by Geandra Rodrigues (geandrar@gmail.com) on 2018-04-26T12:15:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 cibelesilvaesouza.pdf: 2149141 bytes, checksum: eb8ec8bba19f31645d99ca1f4e6777ff (MD5) / Rejected by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br), reason: on 2018-05-04T15:32:37Z (GMT) / Submitted by Geandra Rodrigues (geandrar@gmail.com) on 2018-05-04T15:33:10Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-05-07T15:09:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-07T15:09:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-02-22 / Como efeito das interações entre o campo da comunicação e o campo político, este trabalho parte do pressuposto de que as eleições contemporâneas são marcadas pelo processo da personalização política, definido como o uso dos supostos atributos pessoais dos atores políticos, constituindo o cerne da argumentação eleitoral, com o objetivo de conquistar e manter apoios. Esta dissertação apresenta um estudo das estratégias da construção da imagem de Dilma Rousseff (PT) e Aécio Neves (PSDB) em dois momentos: o primeiro, durante o segundo turno das Eleições 2014 (em debates televisionados); o segundo, no período do Impeachment 2016 (em pronunciamentos públicos). A investigação busca verificar, no contexto de uma nova ambiência eleitoral, quais imagens foram construídas dos dois primeiros colocados nas eleições, e o quanto houve de alterações dessas personas nos dois anos analisados (2014 e 2016). Busca-se testar a hipótese de que os políticos assumem papéis e posicionamentos discrepantes nos debates e nos pronunciamentos, em função de variações dos contextos. O corpus é dividido em dois recortes: o primeiro, composto por debates veiculados nos quatro principais canais de comunicação do País, no contexto do pleito do segundo turno das Eleições 2014; o segundo, do recorte de pronunciamentos públicos emitidos em vídeo, no contexto político do impeachment da presidente da república, em 2016. Como base metodológica, recorreu-se à Análise de Conteúdo, tal como operada por Laurence Bardin (2009), com o propósito de identificar as confluências e dissonâncias recorrentes entre os dois momentos, em perspectiva comparativa. Observou-se que, apesar das especificidades identificadas em cada um dos contextos (por exemplo, o aumento da preocupação de Dilma em destacar nos discursos qualidades positivas de si mesma em 2016, comparativamente a 2014), nos dois cenários analisados (o auge da eleição e a crise política), Dilma e Aécio, de modo geral, adotaram uma estratégia fortemente focada na desconstrução da imagem do adversário político. / In the context of an effect of the interactions between the field of communication and the political field, this work assumes that contemporary elections are marked by the process of political personalization, defined as the use of the supposed personal attributes of political actors as the core of electoral argumentation, with the aim of winning and maintaining support. The dissertation presents a study of the image-building strategies of Dilma Rousseff (PT) and Aécio Neves (PSDB) in two moments: the first during the second round of the 2014 elections (in televised debates) and the second in the 2016 impeachment period (in public pronouncements). The purpose of the investigation is to verify, in the context of a new electoral environment, which images were constructed of the first two placed in the last elections, and how much these political characterse were altered in the two analyzed years (2014 and 2016). We try to test the hypothesis that politicians assume discrepant positions in debates and pronouncements, due to variations in contexts.The ‘corpus’ of the analysis is divided into two cutouts: the first consists of debates conveyed in the four main channels of communication in the context of the second round of elections in 2014; the second in the political context of the impeachment of the president of the republic in 2016 from the cut of public forecasts issued on video. For this, as a methodological basis, we used the Content Analysis, conceptualized by Laurence Bardin (2009), with the purpose of identifying the confluences and recurrent dissonances between the two moments, in a comparative perspective. It was observed that, despite the specificities in each of the contexts - for example, the increase in Dilma's concern to highlight in the speeches positive qualities of herself in 2016 compared to 2014 - in the two scenarios analyzed (the peak of the election and the political crisis), Dilma and Aécio, in general, adopted a strategy strongly focused on deconstructing the image of the political adversary.

This dissertation argues that public opinion regarding the acceptability and desirability of income differences is affected by actual income inequality. Cross-national survey evidence is combined with laboratory and survey experiments to show that estimates regarding appropriate income differences depend on (perceptions of) real income differences. When income inequality changes, public opinion "habituates" by adjusting expectations for fair levels of inequality in the same direction as the factual change. The adjustment occurs because humans are subject to status quo bias and have a motivated tendency to believe in a just world. In the context of increasing inequality in developed democracies over the last 40 years, the implication is that normative expectations for appropriate levels of inequality have adjusted up. This habituation process helps explain why increases in inequality have not been accompanied by increased demands for redistribution and why cross-national variation in income inequality is not clearly linked to public opposition to such inequality. / Government

Perspectiva convencional na Ciência Política prevê associação forte entre educação e comportamentos políticos desejáveis para a convivência democrática. Essa abordagem também infere que aumentos no nível de escolaridade de uma nação serão acompanhados por ganhos sustentados em participação e apoio a princípios democráticos, além de impactos na confiança nas instituições. Essas hipóteses foram revistas e testadas para o Brasil, com análise de surveys aplicados entre 1989 e 2006. As evidências encontradas confirmam a perspectiva convencional, observado um só ponto no tempo e ressalvadas dimensões de associativismo. A análise longitudinal, entre as duas pontas do período, revelou retornos declinantes para a escolaridade adicionada por diferentes níveis de instrução, sobretudo o ensino médio. Fatores relativos ao ambiente educacional, às gerações e às capacidades cognitivas foram investigados para compreender esse achado. A capacitação cognitiva do cidadão indicou ter efeito independente da escolaridade na conformação dos comportamentos políticos, sugerindo que é na perda de qualidade da escolarização brasileira recente que devem ser buscadas explicações. / Conventional wisdom in Political Science predicts strong association between education and political behavior favorable to democracy. This perspective also infers that increases in educational attainments levels of a nation bring sustainable gains in terms of civic and political participation and democratic principles support, as well as impacts on trust in institutions. These hypotheses were reviewed and tested on the Brazilian context, with analysis of surveys from 1989 to 2006. The evidence gathered confirm the conventional wisdom, when a single point in time is observed and with the exception of dimensions of civic engagement. The longitudinal analyses between the extremes of this time span revealed decreasing rewards to the education added up by different educational levels, specially the upper secondary (ensino médio). Factors related to the educational environment, generations and cognitive skills were then investigated in order to understand the findings. The development of cognitive skills showed effects on political behavior independent from education, suggesting that explanations must be searched for on the loss of quality of the Brazilian educational system.