Politics and Protest (and Lack Thereof) in Brazil

Last month, on October 26, 2014, Workers Parter (PT) incumbent Dilma Rousseff narrowly won reelection in Brazil’s presidential contest. Her center-right opponent, Aécio Neves (PSDB), earned 48 percent of the vote to Rousseff’s 52 percent. The three million vote margin made it the closest race since Brazil ratified its new constitution in 1988. As might be expected in one of the most stratified countries in the world, social class was one of the strongest predictors of candidate preference.