Most everybody is ambitious about their own careers. Most of us aspire to be promoted to positions with greater responsibilities and benefits and have a clear sense of what we mean by a "successful career." Politicians are no different, and there is no apparent reason why they should be. However, unlike what happens in other occupations, politicians are forced periodically---i.e., at the end of each term they serve---to make a decision about what to do with their careers. This decision is made under the uncertainty about their ability to continue their careers according to their plans. The possibility of electoral defeat spares no one in spite of all that politicians do to avoid being voted out of office. Thus, at the end of each term, politicians must ponder what they want to do with their careers or where they want to go next. Politicians inform their decisions with their beliefs about their performance in office---or their performance as challengers---and their assessments of the difficulty of winning office in the following election. This raises the question about why some politicians decide to stay in office. Concretely, why do some politicians decide to get reelected while others seek election in "higher" or even "lower" offices? And also, why are some politicians more successful in having lasting careers? I focus on the career decisions that politicians make routinely and in the duration of their careers by considering individual and district factors that explain why politicians decide to run for particular offices and the length of their tenures.

Variable plutôt ignorée au niveau de la littérature portant sur l’analyse du parti au gouvernement, les élites exécutives, leurs trajectoires politiques et leurs expériences de socialisation peuvent constituer une explication alternative pour l’articulation de l’activité des exécutifs. Par le biais d’une étude de cas, portant sur les élites politiques en Roumanie postcommuniste, la recherche procède à une interrogation concernant l’impact des acteurs individuels sur la formulation des politiques publiques et la coordination de l’activité gouvernementale. De la sorte, menée d’une manière constructiviste, la recherche suscite la délimitation d’une série de réponses à la question : Comment les trajectoires politiques des ministres et des secrétaires d’Etat influent-elles sur la prise de décision gouvernementale en Roumanie postcommuniste ? L’influence des élites gouvernementales est analysée sur deux grands axes de recherche : (1) une dimension qui vise les relations qui se forgent entre les acteurs au niveau organisationnel –institutionnel et (2) une dimension qui porte sur le contenu même des politiques entamées. D’une manière compréhensive, intégrant plusieurs approches centrées sur les élites, le cadre analytique imbrique les effets estimés au niveau du parti et les effets établis au niveau du fonctionnement des exécutifs. Les conclusions de la thèse soulignent l’importance du profil des acteurs gouvernementaux dans la coordination de l’activité des exécutifs durant la période 1989-2007. L’expérience politique des acteurs, tout comme leur position dans le parti sont des facteurs essentiels dans la définition des degrés d’autonomie décisionnelle et des marges de liberté dont les gouvernants disposent dans la création des politiques. L’étude met en exergue le fait que cette caractéristique décrivant l'existence d'un impact direct des acteurs individuels sur le caractère collégial, consensuel ou conflictuel de l’activité du cabinet, tout comme leur influence sur la réalisation du programme gouvernemental ne constituent pas une idiosyncrasie de la transition démocratique, mais un modèle de comportement consolidé dans le cas des exécutifs roumains.

This thesis investigates the political career of Stephen Dorsey, an Ohio industrialist who moved to Arkansas in 1871. Dorsey was elected to the U.S. Senate from Arkansas in 1873, served as secretary of the Republican National Committee for. the election of 1880, and was tried twice, in 1882 and 1883, for the Star Route postal frauds. Although Dorsey was acquitted, the Star Route frauds ended his political career. Separate chapters treat each phase of Dorsey's career. Major sources included the D41 Arkansas Gazette, the Congressional Record, the Garfield Papers, and the official transcripts of the Star Route trials. The thesis concludes that Dorsey's career was, the product of Ulysses S. Grant's influence within the Republican party in. the Gilded Age.

A presente tese se dedicou a investigar, a partir das doações de campanha, a relação entre o setor empresarial e o sistema político, e qual o peso dos partidos políticos nessa relação. O foco da análise recaiu sobre as receitas de campanha, nas eleições de 2006, para a Câmara dos Deputados, considerando tanto as carreiras individuais dos candidatos como sua filiação partidária. Esta última perspectiva revelou padrões de concentração entre os partidos de centro-direita. Entretanto, quando se desagrega as empresas segundo o setor de atividade e os candidatos segundo o distrito eleitoral, a distribuição de fundos tende a ser heterogênea. Quanto às carreiras individuais, a análise identificou forte influência do capital político dos candidatos, destacando-se a relevância de uma longa trajetória política aliada à experiência em secretarias e ministérios, bem como o estabelecimento de vínculos anteriores com associações patronais. Além dessas evidências empíricas, a presente tese buscou levantar importantes tensões teóricas e dilemas suscitados pelo debate sobre o financiamento de campanha. / This dissertation attempted to investigate the relationship between the corporate sector and the political system and the role parties play on it by examining private donations to political campaigns. The analysis focused on campaign expenditures in the 2006 election for the Chamber of Deputies, accounting both for the candidates career individually and for their party affiliation. The latter perspective revealed patterns of concentration among right wing and center parties. However, when disaggregating the companies by sector of activity and the candidates by electoral district, the share of funds tends to be heterogeneous. Concerning individual careers, the analysis identified marked influence of political capital, especially long-term political trajectories allied with prior experience in secretaries, as well as previous links with employers\' associations. Besides these empirical evidences, this dissertation aimed to raise relevant theoretical tensions and dilemmas brought by the debate on campaign finance.

A presente tese se dedicou a investigar, a partir das doações de campanha, a relação entre o setor empresarial e o sistema político, e qual o peso dos partidos políticos nessa relação. O foco da análise recaiu sobre as receitas de campanha, nas eleições de 2006, para a Câmara dos Deputados, considerando tanto as carreiras individuais dos candidatos como sua filiação partidária. Esta última perspectiva revelou padrões de concentração entre os partidos de centro-direita. Entretanto, quando se desagrega as empresas segundo o setor de atividade e os candidatos segundo o distrito eleitoral, a distribuição de fundos tende a ser heterogênea. Quanto às carreiras individuais, a análise identificou forte influência do capital político dos candidatos, destacando-se a relevância de uma longa trajetória política aliada à experiência em secretarias e ministérios, bem como o estabelecimento de vínculos anteriores com associações patronais. Além dessas evidências empíricas, a presente tese buscou levantar importantes tensões teóricas e dilemas suscitados pelo debate sobre o financiamento de campanha. / This dissertation attempted to investigate the relationship between the corporate sector and the political system and the role parties play on it by examining private donations to political campaigns. The analysis focused on campaign expenditures in the 2006 election for the Chamber of Deputies, accounting both for the candidates career individually and for their party affiliation. The latter perspective revealed patterns of concentration among right wing and center parties. However, when disaggregating the companies by sector of activity and the candidates by electoral district, the share of funds tends to be heterogeneous. Concerning individual careers, the analysis identified marked influence of political capital, especially long-term political trajectories allied with prior experience in secretaries, as well as previous links with employers\' associations. Besides these empirical evidences, this dissertation aimed to raise relevant theoretical tensions and dilemmas brought by the debate on campaign finance.

Submitted by PPG Ci?ncias Sociais (csociais-pg@pucrs.br) on 2018-05-08T14:02:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Alison_Ribeiro_Centeno_Dis.pdf: 1666560 bytes, checksum: f12e346bb75768cf66ae072aca247600 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2018-05-15T17:53:24Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Alison_Ribeiro_Centeno_Dis.pdf: 1666560 bytes, checksum: f12e346bb75768cf66ae072aca247600 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-15T17:55:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alison_Ribeiro_Centeno_Dis.pdf: 1666560 bytes, checksum: f12e346bb75768cf66ae072aca247600 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-20 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Studying the social background, the political careers and political pathways of Federal Senators from Brazil who were chosen as party leaders and supra-party blocs' leaders between 1999 and 2006, this examination points out that during the 51st and 52nd Congresses the group of leaders concentrated and exacerbated the main qualities of the Senate's components. Using a theoretical framework that values institutional political experience and social capital as sources of maintenance of the political elite that composes the political institutions, studies focused on Brazil's bicameral Congress were synthesized in data and conclusions that corroborated for the understanding of the Brazilian political institutions dominated by a cohesive elite, with low circularity and high socioeconomic resources that projects them to the highest positions on Legislative. Questioning the possible dissonance between parties leaders and parties members in the Federal Senate, there was a 'leader profile' that overcame the intrinsic differences of parties on the political spectrum, where Senators that have graduated in engineering overcame the numerical dominance of law graduates in Brazil's Federal Senate, which as one half of the country's Congress is marked by long-serving career politicians, with parties leaders being even more experienced Senators, mainly with political careers built by Legislative mandates. / Atrav?s de um estudo acerca do social background, das carreiras e trajet?rias pol?ticas de Senadores que foram al?ados aos postos de l?deres de partidos e blocos suprapartid?rios do Senado Federal entre 1999 e 2006, este trabalho evidencia que, no que tange ?s 51? e 52? Legislaturas, o col?gio de l?deres concentrou e exacerbou as principais caracter?sticas dos componentes da Casa. Valendo-se de um arcabou?o te?rico que valoriza a experi?ncia pol?tica e o capital social como fontes de manuten??o da elite que comp?e os meios institucionais, retomou-se estudos de caso focados no Congresso Nacional, sintetizados em dados e afirma??es que corroboraram para a compreens?o da pol?tica institucional brasileira dominada por uma elite coesa, de baixa circularidade e de elevados recursos socioecon?micos que os projetam para os cargos mais elevados do Legislativo. Tendo questionado a poss?vel disson?ncia entre os Senadores l?deres e liderados, encontrou-se um perfil de l?der que supera as diferen?as intr?nsecas das legendas na escala ideol?gica, onde os Senadores engenheiros se sobrepuseram a domin?ncia dos bachar?is em Direito na Casa da Federa??o, que como institui??o legislativa marcada pelos pol?ticos de carreiras longevas, tinha no col?gio de l?deres, Senadores ainda mais experientes, principalmente com carreiras pol?ticas constru?das por mandatos no Legislativo.

Variable plutôt ignorée au niveau de la littérature portant sur l’analyse du parti au gouvernement, les élites exécutives, leurs trajectoires politiques et leurs expériences de socialisation peuvent constituer une explication alternative pour l’articulation de l’activité des exécutifs. Par le biais d’une étude de cas, portant sur les élites politiques en Roumanie postcommuniste, la recherche procède à une interrogation concernant l’impact des acteurs individuels sur la formulation des politiques publiques et la coordination de l’activité gouvernementale. <p><p>De la sorte, menée d’une manière constructiviste, la recherche suscite la délimitation d’une série de réponses à la question :Comment les trajectoires politiques des ministres et des secrétaires d’Etat influent-elles sur la prise de décision gouvernementale en Roumanie postcommuniste ?L’influence des élites gouvernementales est analysée sur deux grands axes de recherche :(1) une dimension qui vise les relations qui se forgent entre les acteurs au niveau organisationnel –institutionnel et (2) une dimension qui porte sur le contenu même des politiques entamées. D’une manière compréhensive, intégrant plusieurs approches centrées sur les élites, le cadre analytique imbrique les effets estimés au niveau du parti et les effets établis au niveau du fonctionnement des exécutifs. <p><p>Les conclusions de la thèse soulignent l’importance du profil des acteurs gouvernementaux dans la coordination de l’activité des exécutifs durant la période 1989-2007. L’expérience politique des acteurs, tout comme leur position dans le parti sont des facteurs essentiels dans la définition des degrés d’autonomie décisionnelle et des marges de liberté dont les gouvernants disposent dans la création des politiques. L’étude met en exergue le fait que cette caractéristique décrivant l'existence d'un impact direct des acteurs individuels sur le caractère collégial, consensuel ou conflictuel de l’activité du cabinet, tout comme leur influence sur la réalisation du programme gouvernemental ne constituent pas une idiosyncrasie de la transition démocratique, mais un modèle de comportement consolidé dans le cas des exécutifs roumains.<p> / Doctorat en sciences politiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished