The Public Opinion, Research and Studies Center of the Perseu Abramo Foundation (NOPPE/FPA) has worked over the past few years to produce diagnoses and understand where public opinion is heading. What kinds of perceptions and values is Brazilian society adopting and reproducing?
At the end of 2021, after a long process of listening to academics, thinkers, and activists, NOPPE partnered with professors Isabela Kalil and William Nozaki from the Fundação Escola de Sociologia e Política (FESP/SP) and went into the field to develop a study of political culture entitled: “Perceptions and Values of Non-Polarized Brazilian Society”.
Our goal was to develop a broad and detailed analysis of the background, values, worldviews, and political culture of segments of the low- and middle-income population with non-polarized political positions: those who neither like nor dislike the PT (Workers’ Party) – sometimes misinterpreted as “undecided voters” or as having low knowledge of/interest in politics.
In total, 64 in-depth interviews were conducted (a qualitative research technique in which a specialized interviewer conducts a conversation with the interviewee, using a semi-structured script). Each interview lasted an average of 2 hours. The script included questions revolving around life trajectory, place in class society, values, perceptions about politics, democracy, the State, and the crisis plaguing the country.
The sample included men and women aged 18 to 50 (separated into two groups, younger and older), both Black and white, with incomes ranging from 1 to 5 minimum wages (segmented into income up to 2 minimum wages, and from 2 to 5 minimum wages), economically active (unemployed, with formal or self-employed work and/or precarious employment), from the five regions of the country, residing in capital cities or inland towns. Their attitudinal profile was non-polarized, based on the criteria used in the 2019 Vox Populi survey on “feelings towards the PT” (Workers’ Party). According to the research, this profile corresponds to 39% of voters.
We found some quite interesting results in the field.
The first is that it is not a homogeneous profile. There are several mixed combinations of progressive and conservative positions. In the field of values, he does not demonstrate commitment to any “ideological side.” Positions sometimes identified as progressive, sometimes as conservative, coexist in the same individual.
In this context, it is worth highlighting a trend that has proven quite consistent in two segments that group the highest rates of resistance to Bolsonaro: young people and women. Young people show considerable adherence to progressivism regarding civil rights and individual freedoms. Women tend to adhere more strongly to solidarity and collective values. When asked what value they want to leave for future generations, for example, responses, especially among women, lean towards “empathy,” “respect for others,” “love for others,” etc.
On the other hand, it continues to be the bodies of women that are the central focus of significant expressions of conservatism. Women are still assigned the responsibility for domestic chores – even though there is an understanding that men should also help –; and there was quite high rejection of the legalization of abortion. Regarding LGBTQIA+ rights, however, there was a very positive reception and almost no rejection of the right to love and exist.
Furthermore, although the sample understands that forms of prejudice (racial, gender) exist, there is not always endorsement of affirmative action policies. However, no anti-political tendency or low interest in politics was found. On the contrary, most of the sample presented strong opinions regarding the topics discussed and considerable willingness to go to the polls in October. Democracy is an important value for this segment of the population – even if there is some flexibility in judging certain authoritarian instruments for imposing order.
The sample also demonstrated an appreciation for the State and public policies (including those related to reducing the country’s glaring inequalities), even though they have strong criticisms regarding the management of public affairs and, especially, those in charge. In this sense, it is worth highlighting that the criticisms of public administration are more focused on condemning individual moral failings than on a more institutional perspective. In other words, it is not the political system that is corrupt and inefficient, but the parliamentarians, public officials, and managers who do not work for the people. Similarly, it is not the institution of the Military Police that is violent and corrupt, but some police officers who exhibit some moral failing.
Strongly aligned with the value of work and convinced of the need to fight to succeed in life, they tend to see Brazil as a country of many natural and cultural riches and a strong and welcoming people, but led by an elite that benefits from its position of power and by a corrupt political class committed only to its own interests, which makes life even more difficult for Brazilians – and the need to fight, unavoidable. Here, “worker” – more than the place it occupies in class society – is an attribute, a mark of value for the people.
Faced with these adversities, strength and resilience are needed to achieve one’s goals, which involve little more than obtaining financial stability, material comfort, and a good standard of living for oneself and one’s family, meaning access to more and better goods and services. In this sense, it is the consumption pattern (including essential goods) that dictates the class perception one has of oneself and others.
These are some of the results of the study, which includes more than 100 slides and can be accessed on the FPA website. We hope that this study can contribute to a better understanding of a segment of the population that values democracy and is interested in a policy that reduces inequalities and helps people improve their lives, with a very attentive and critical eye.
