Mayoral Candidacies in Brazil: More Educated Women, but Diversity Remains a Chasm in Political Parties

By: FGV Direito Rio

• Black and brown mayoral candidates represent 4.4% and 32.8%, respectively, of the total registered in the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court (TSE). Black women account for only 1% and brown women, 4.7%.
• Less than ⅕ of total mayoral candidates registered in the TSE are women. Comparing gender inequality by region, the Northeast has more female registrations at 18.5%, while the south has the lowest proportion at 12.6%. 
• Female candidates are more educated than male candidates. Among mayoral candidates, 79.5% of women have a college degree, while only 55.3% of men have completed higher education. Of the graduated women, 36% are from the northeast, and 28.4% are from the southeast. 
• The left presents a higher number of black and indigenous candidates for more prominent positions, and also concentrates the largest number of black and brown female candidates.

Presentation

The underrepresentation of women in institutional political spaces has been a concern for the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) Since at Least 2019 (1), when sanctions were imposed on dozens of parties for failing to meet the minimum allocation of Party Fund resources to promote female participation.

Recently, the situation has worsened due to various attempts by the Legislative Power to roll back laws on seat reservation and campaign financing for political minorities, as highlighted in a previous report by FGV Direito Rio (2). One example is the recent approval of PEC 9/2023, known as the "Amnesty PEC," which, in the name of party autonomy, seeks to annul fines imposed on political parties that did not comply with the rules for seat reservation and campaign financing for women and Black people. It also allows the use of the Special Campaign Financing Fund (FEFC) to pay potential sanctions.

In this context, the current report aims to analyze the characteristics associated with the representation of politically minority groups in the candidacies for mayor and vice-mayor in the 2024 municipal elections. We base this analysis on official candidacy data registered with the TSE as of August 15, 2024.

Methodology

To analyze the diversity of representation in municipal candidacies, we used publicly available information from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). In the second half of August, the Court released percentages of candidacies by gender and race, calculated based on the total number of candidacies received through collective and individual requests nationwide for the allocation of Party Fund resources and the Special Campaign Financing Fund (FEFC) (3). However, the aggregated data does not allow for more precise inferences, nor does it include other variables, such as contested positions or detailed information on race and education as self-declared by candidates.

Therefore, we opted to use a raw database containing all candidacy registrations submitted to the TSE, including self-declared variables such as race, gender, and education. This dataset is more comprehensive. The information was extracted from the TSE Open Data Portal on August 22, 2024, at 12:30 p.m. At that time, there were a total of 458,133 candidacy registrations across Brazil, with 15,433 for mayor and 15,571 for vice-mayor.

To complement the data from the TSE and enhance the analyses, we conducted a classification of political parties according to their positioning on the political-ideological spectrum, distinguishing them as "left," "center," and "right." This will allow for an assessment of the representativeness of the candidacies also by political spectrum. The table below shows the adopted classification.

 

Table 1: Classification of Political Parties by Political Spectrum

 

Own elaboration based on Borges and Vidigal (2023, p. 7)

(*) Parties that changed their names and/or are not listed in the reference by Borges and Vidigal (2023) were classified based on their self-declared ideology.  

How is diversity represented in candidacies for the municipal executive?

To analyze the diversity of race, gender, education, and region in candidacies for mayor and deputy mayor, we developed some guiding questions for the analyses conducted in each category:

• How do gender and racial inequalities reflect in the candidacy registrations for municipal executive positions in each region of the country?
• Which political party spectrum has the most female and Black candidacies?
• Where are the women? In which positions do we find, proportionally, the most female candidacies? Does this proportion repeat across different regions? 
• Is the level of education of women an independent variable in relation to the position for which they are running?
• Is there a difference among political party spectrums regarding education in the selection of candidates for mayor and deputy mayor positions? 

Considering that the absolute numbers of candidacy registrations for mayor and deputy mayor, by political spectrum, are disparate (the right has 16,644 registrations, the center has 7,610, and the left has 6,750), we opted to analyze the data in isolation, considering the registrations proportionally based on each political spectrum. 

I. Race

Graph 1 shows the distribution of candidacy registrations according to racial self-declaration made to the TSE for the mayoral elections in this election cycle. 

Graph 1: Racial Self-Declaration of Candidacies Registered for Mayor by Political Spectrum.

Source: TSE | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio 

• From the analysis of Graph 1, we observe that the registration of candidacies of Black, Brown, and Indigenous individuals for mayor is significantly low compared to the racial profile of the Brazilian population. Specifically examining the political-ideological alignment of these candidates, left-wing parties have more candidacies for the position of municipal executive leadership from Black and Indigenous individuals compared to the center and the right. 

Graph 2: Racial Self-Declaration of Candidacies Registered for Deputy Mayor by Political Spectrum

Source: TSE | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio 

• In Graph 2, which addresses the deputy mayor position, there is also a low representativeness of Black, Brown, and Indigenous candidacies overall. However, on the right, we observe an increase in the number of candidates from Black and Indigenous individuals compared to the higher position in the same spectrum seen in the previous graph.

II. Gender

Table 2 below shows the number of candidacy registrations received by the TSE for mayor and deputy mayor by gender, according to the political-ideological spectrum.  

 Table 2: Gender of Candidacies Registered for Mayor and Deputy Mayor

 

 

Fonte: TSE | Elaboração: FGV Direito Rio 

• Analyzing Table 1, it is evident that, out of the total number of candidacy registrations, less than ⅕ are women, which significantly diverges from the representation of this group in the overall Brazilian population. Assessing female participation by spectrum, we identify a slightly higher number of candidate registrations in left-wing parties compared to the other spectrums;
• Comparing the presence of women in the contests for each of the executive positions, we find that they are more represented in the race for deputy mayor, comprising 23.15% of the candidacy registrations, compared to only 15% of the total number of candidacies for the leadership position of this power;
• Also regarding the registration of candidacies from Black women, we find a greater presence in the left-wing political spectrum (49%) compared to the right-wing political spectrum (34.5%).

III.Education and Profession

Graph 3 below shows the distribution of candidacy registrations according to education level submitted to the TSE for the mayoral and deputy mayor elections in this election cycle. 

Graph 3: Education Level of Candidacies Registered for Mayor and Deputy Mayor

 

Source: TSE | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio 

• In a broad analysis of the data, we do not observe a significant numerical discrepancy in the education levels of registered candidacies. However, when we add the gender variable, we identify that women have a significantly higher level of education than men;
• Regarding the registration of candidacies from women for the position of mayor, 79.5% of them hold a complete higher education degree, while only 55.3% of men have completed university education. For deputy mayor positions, 65.6% of the registered female candidates have a complete higher education, compared to only 40.7% among men. 

Graph 4: Education Level of Registered Candidacies by Gender and Position

 

 

Source: TSE | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio 

 

Table 3: Education Level of Candidacy Registrations for Municipal Executive Positions by Political Spectrum.

 

Source: TSE | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio

• According to Table 3, we observe that the left-wing political spectrum has a relatively higher number of candidacy registrations with lower education levels compared to the right-wing political spectrum. Furthermore, the only registration of a self-declared illiterate candidate belongs to the left-wing political spectrum.
• This data may indicate that left-wing political parties are more open to candidacies from individuals coming from lower social classes, thus increasing class diversity in their registrations with the TSE. 
• When analyzing the candidacies for mayor and deputy mayor, we note that "businessman" is the most common occupation among men (6,189 registrations), followed by "farmers" (3,486). In contrast, women stand out as "teachers" (653 registrations), followed by other occupations (576) and "businesswomen" (547). 
• Among women with a complete higher education, there is greater diversification of occupations compared to the general female group. Teachers continue to lead with 617 registrations, but there is an increase in the participation of lawyers (353) and public servants (343), while the presence of businesswomen drops to 295.
• Comparing genders, male candidates are concentrated in professions with greater economic power and traditional political positions, such as councilors (2,510) and mayors (1,775), while women are more present in areas such as education and public service.
• In the political spectrum, right-wing candidacies are characterized by a high concentration of businessmen (2,871 registrations) and political positions. On the left, although there is greater diversity of professions, businessmen (786) and farmers (570) still rank among the most mentioned occupations.

 

IV. Region

Graph 5 below shows the distribution of candidacy registrations by region in Brazil for the mayoral and deputy mayor elections in this election cycle.

Graph 5: Region of Candidacy Registrations by Gender

 

Source: TSE | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio 

 

• According to Graph 5, we see that the Northeast is the region with the highest number of registrations for women’s candidacies for mayor and the second highest for deputy mayor, behind only the North region. Additionally, when we add the education variable to this analysis, we find that the Northeast has the highest number of registrations for women with complete higher education, at 36%, followed by the Southeast region with 28.4%.
• In the South region, we find the largest difference between the number of registered candidacies of men and women: while men account for 87.4% of the total candidacies in the region, women represent only 12.6%. This region also has the lowest number of registrations for Black and Brown individuals in the municipal elections, with 90.9% of registered candidates being from White individuals and only 1% from those self-declared as Black.

 

Final Considerations

In this report, we observe that ensuring diversity in candidacy registrations remains a significant challenge for political and party institutions in Brazil. The numbers presented here reflect the inequalities of gender and race in Brazilian society in the municipal elections, particularly concerning the presence of women in high-ranking positions, as well as Black and Indigenous individuals.

To contribute to advancing analyses of the representation of diversity in institutional politics, it is essential to emphasize the importance of refining the information requested by the TSE at the time of candidacy registration. One possible improvement would be to broaden the notion of gender adopted by the Tribunal beyond the binary 'female' and 'male,' considering diverse identities as well.

Finally, we highlight the importance of working with the racial self-declaration data of candidates in a disaggregated manner, as proposed in this report. Using the binary 'White' and 'Non-White' as the organizational parameter for candidacy registrations renders the dimension of Brazilian racial diversity invisible. Furthermore, it maintains the category 'White' as an analytical reference, which ultimately reproduces the racial inequalities that should be combated. 

Notes:

1.Available at: Decisões do TSE reforçam iniciativas de incentivo à participação feminina na política Accessed in August 2024.

2. Projetos de lei sobre candidaturas de minorias: homens são a maioria dos autores de propostas que retrocedem a participação política de mulheres

3.Available at: TSE divulga percentual de candidaturas femininas e de pessoas negras por partido político — Tribunal Superior Eleitoral. Accessed in: August 21 2024. 

 

 

Elaborated by:

This report was produced by the Center for Technology and Society as part of the Media and Democracy Project.

Authorship:

Yasmin Curzi (Professor at FGV Direito Rio and Coordinator of the "Media and Democracy" Project at the School of Law)  

Carolina Peterli (Researcher of the "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Fernanda Gomes (Researcher of the "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Giullia Thomaz (Researcher of the "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Hana Mesquita (Researcher of the "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Iris Rosa (Researcher of the "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Isabella Markendorf Marins (Researcher of the "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Lorena Abbas (Researcher of the "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Nikolas Carneiro (Researcher of the "Media and Democracy" Project)