The southern oligarchy; an appeal in behalf of the silent masses of our country against the despotic rule of the few.

Mode of access: Internet.

How did England become an oligarchy? Addressed to parliamentary reformers. To which is added a short treatise on the first principles of political government.

Mode of access: Internet.

Res Publica: Citizenship and Political Representation in Portugal, 1820-1926

The term res publica (literally “thing of the people”) was coined by the Romans to translate the Greek word politeia, which, as we know, referred to a political community organised in accordance with certain principles, amongst which the notion of the “good life” (as against exclusively private interests) was paramount. This ideal also came to be known as political virtue. To achieve it, it was necessary to combine the best of each “constitutional” type and avoid their worst aspects (tyranny, oligarchy and ochlocracy). Hence, the term acquired from the Greeks a sense of being a “mixed” and “balanced” system. Anyone that was entitled to citizenship could participate in the governance of the “public thing”. This implied the institutionalization of open debate and confrontation between interested parties as a way of achieving the consensus necessary to ensure that man the political animal, who fought with words and reason, prevailed over his “natural” counterpart. These premises lie at the heart of the project which is now being presented under the title of Res Publica: Citizenship and Political Representation in Portugal, 1820-1926. The fact that it is integrated into the centenary commemorations of the establishment of the Republic in Portugal is significant, as it was the idea of revolution – with its promise of rupture and change – that inspired it. However, it has also sought to explore events that could be considered the precursor of democratization in the history of Portugal, namely the vintista, setembrista and patuleia revolutions. It is true that the republican regime was opposed to the monarchic. However, although the thesis that monarchy would inevitably lead to tyranny had held sway for centuries, it had also been long believed that the monarchic system could be as “politically virtuous” as a republic (in the strict sense of the word) provided that power was not concentrated in the hands of a single individual. Moreover, various historical experiments had shown that republics could also degenerate into Caesarism and different kinds of despotism. Thus, when absolutism began to be overturned in continental Europe in the name of the natural rights of man and the new social pact theories, initiating the difficult process of (written) constitutionalization, the monarchic principle began to be qualified as a “monarchy hedged by republican institutions”, a situation in which not even the king was exempt from isonomy. This context justifies the time frame chosen here, as it captures the various changes and continuities that run through it. Having rejected the imperative mandate and the reinstatement of the model of corporative representation (which did not mean that, in new contexts, this might not be revived, or that the second chamber established by the Constitutional Charter of 1826 might not be given another lease of life), a new power base was convened: national sovereignty, a precept that would be shared by the monarchic constitutions of 1822 and 1838, and by the republican one of 1911. This followed the French example (manifested in the monarchic constitution of 1791 and in the Spanish constitution of 1812), as not even republicans entertained a tradition of republicanism based upon popular sovereignty. This enables us to better understand the rejection of direct democracy and universal suffrage, and also the long incapacitation (concerning voting and standing for office) of the vast body of “passive” citizens, justified by “enlightened”, property- and gender-based criteria. Although the republicans had promised in the propaganda phase to alter this situation, they ultimately failed to do so. Indeed, throughout the whole period under analysis, the realisation of the potential of national sovereignty was mediated above all by the individual citizen through his choice of representatives. However, this representation was indirect and took place at national level, in the hope that action would be motivated not by particular local interests but by the common good, as dictated by reason. This was considered the only way for the law to be virtuous, a requirement that was also manifested in the separation and balance of powers. As sovereignty was postulated as single and indivisible, so would be the nation that gave it soul and the State that embodied it. Although these characteristics were common to foreign paradigms of reference, in Portugal, the constitutionalization process also sought to nationalise the idea of Empire. Indeed, this had been the overriding purpose of the 1822 Constitution, and it persisted, even after the loss of Brazil, until decolonization. Then, the dream of a single nation stretching from the Minho to Timor finally came to an end.

Laver la patrie de la tache de l’ignorance L’État, les mineurs et les enfants de l’Équateur (1760-1845)

La métaphore de la famille a été utilisée, aussi bien à l’époque coloniale qu’à l’époque républicaine, pour illustrer le système politique idéal, la domination d’un groupe privilégié, les parents, sur une population obéissante, les enfants. Cette thèse survole les multiples facettes de la minorité en Équateur à l’époque coloniale et au début de l’époque républicaine (1760-1845), en se penchant sur les stratégies mises en place par l’État pour reléguer à un rang subalterne des individus n’appartenant pas à la catégorie raciale blanche métisse, c’est-à-dire les Indiens, les Noirs, les sang-mêlés, à travers un discours infantilisant. Elle s’intéresse aussi à la résistance d’individus refusant de se percevoir comme des mineurs et qui n’acceptaient pas l’ordre établi, les lois ou les décisions gouvernementales. En se présentant comme des parents compétents et en réclamant la patria potestad, l’autorité légale sur leurs enfants, des adultes considérés comme des enfants métaphoriques dans la grande famille patriarcale, par exemple des femmes, des pères indiens ou même des esclaves d’origine africaine, ont revendiqué plus d’autonomie pour eux, pour leurs familles, ou pour leurs communautés. Les guerres d’indépendance ont donné naissance à une république, la Grande-Colombie, et plus tard à un pays, l’Équateur. La figure symbolique du « parent » n’était plus incarnée par le roi d’Espagne et son appareil bureaucratique. Le système politique avait maintenant plusieurs « pères », membres d’un groupe restreint de Créoles qui, hier encore, se plaignaient d’être infantilisés par les Espagnols tyranniques. Les gens du peuple, en grande partie composé d’Indiens, étaient toujours considérés comme des « enfants » dans la nouvelle république. Comment expliquer que, dans une Nation désormais libre, des pans entiers de la population demeurent sous la tutelle d’hommes blancs? Une justification sera utilisée à répétition pour expliquer ce phénomène : l’ignorance du peuple et le besoin d’encadrement temporaire de celui-ci. Ainsi, s’est construit sur plus d’un siècle un véritable « mythe », celui d’une Nation en émergence où tous les citoyens seraient enfin placés sur un pied d’égalité, d’une Nation propre qu’on aurait nettoyée à l’aide d’écoles et de campagnes d’éducation populaire d’une tache tenace : celle de la Barbarie.

Le creusement des inégalités aux États-Unis sous l’angle de la loi d’airain de l’oligarchie.

Ce mémoire a pour objectif d’expliquer les causes de la montée des inégalités aux États-Unis. Leurs exacerbations par la mise en place de politiques défavorables aux intérêts de la majorité laissent penser que la démocratie est en danger. En partant des limites posées par les explications traditionnelles notamment celles fournies par les économistes, nous émettons l’idée que sous couvert de démocratie et d’égalité dans les voix politiques, nos démocraties pourraient être prises en otage par une oligarchie. Alors que nombreux théoriciens ont abordé la question de l’oligarchie sous l’angle matériel, nous pensons qu’il existe un autre aspect important : l’aspect organisationnel. Afin d’apporter un regard nouveau à cette problématique, nous émettons l’idée que la loi d’airain de l’oligarchie de Michels contient un fort pouvoir explicatif. En partant des indicateurs fournis par sa théorie, nous arrivons à plusieurs constats. Premièrement, on peut s’apercevoir que la bureaucratie, ou en d’autres termes l’État ne saurait être autre chose que l’organisation d’une minorité. Deuxièmement, le déséquilibre des intérêts organisés entre d’une part les classes moyennes et travailleuses et d’autre part les minorités riches peut être considéré comme l’une des variables les plus à même d’expliquer le creusement des inégalités qui ont pris place au sein de la société américaine. Enfin, la relative incompétence des masses sur les questions politiques et son manque général d’éducation est un terrain favorable au développement d’une oligarchie.

Sparta and the English Republic

In 1659-60, James Harrington and Henry Stubbe, two republican authors, engaged in a bad-tempered pamphlet debate about the constitution of classical Sparta. This took place in the context of political collapse after the fall of the Cromwellian Protectorate, as republicans desperately attempted to devise safeguards which could prevent the return of monarchy. Questions of constitutional form were not always at the forefront of 1650s English republicanism, but Harrington’s ideal constitution of ‘Oceana’ brought these questions to the fore in 1659’s discussions. Sparta formed a key plank of the ‘ancient prudence’ which supported Harrington’s theory, and like Stubbe he drew on Nicolaus Cragius’ De Republica Lacedaemoniorum (1593) for evidence, and was attracted to some of the more apparently ‘aristocratic’ elements of the Spartan constitution. However, classical texts and modern scholarly authority, such as Cragius’, were not the only ingredients in the English version of the ‘classical republican’ tradition; sixteenth- and seventeenth-century political thinkers and current exigencies also shaped Harrington and Stubbe’s arguments. Both Harrington and Stubbe ended up challenging the scholarly and ancient consensus that Sparta was an aristocracy or mixed polity, Harrington reinterpreting it to assimilate it to ‘democracy’, and Stubbe attempting to rehabilitate a model of benign ‘oligarchy’.

Estado capaz (desenvolvimentista) e democracia em países pré-industriais

This paper distinguishes three types of countries (rich, middle-income, and pre-industrial) and discusses the problems of state capability and the quality of democracy in the later, which include the poor countries. A consolidate democracy supposes that the country has realized its capitalist revolution and counts with a relatively capable state. The challenge of pre-industrial countries is to build their nation and a reasonably capable state, and to make their national and industrial revolution. The democratic state will be its main instrument to achieve the five political objectives that modern societies defined historically: security, individual liberty, economic well-being, social justice, and protection of the environment. Given the demand of the people and the pressure of rich countries since the 1980s, this state will have to be democratic, but, historically, all industrial revolutions were the outcome of a developmental strategy, and none of them were accomplished in the realm of democracy. This is the main contradiction and the main challenge faced by populist leaders who try to develop their countries, having as adversaries the local liberal oligarchy and the rich countries or the West. They must build a capable state, but their poorly organized societies do not help. They must give priority to economic growth, but the people ask for more social services. Thus, to govern these countries is extremely difficult.

O (in)imaginável elefante mal-ajambrado: a questão de limites entre o Ceará e o Rio Grande do Norte e o exame da formação espacial e identitária norte-rio-grandense na Primeira República

This study s main goal is to analyze the way the limits between Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte states, the so called Grossos matter, has been associated to the norte-rio-grandense spacial and identity formation during the first republic period. Thus, a consistet number of sources: RN and CE old newspapers, as well as a república from Natal and Fortaleza and o mossoroense ; historical drafts from the historical and geographical institute associated and historical, gographical and anthropological institute of Ceará; the Ação Cível Originária de nº 6 from the supreme federal tribunal and many other cartographies. The documents haven t been hierarchized, neither accepted as proof effects, but understood as the base matter for this text composition by the deconstruction of the analyzed discusses. In order to do that the ablação or bricolagem method, without quotations marks or long quotations themselves, has been used. Along the three analyzed charpters: the two phases the litigious was found, since its beginning yet in the XVIII century until 1888 and its return within the republic proclamation, in the 1920 resolution; the development of the documental, historical and identity dispute between IHGA-CE and IHG-RN; and, at last, the political game existing between the Albuquerque Maranhão oligarchy , Manuel Pereira Reis and Rui Barbosa, explaining the intentions, silent and miths built along the time by these intellectual participations

Imprensa, educação e sociedade no interior paulista: Ribeirão Preto (1948-1959)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

A relação entre educação escolar e cidadania no Brasil no período de 1930 a 1945: que cidadão?

Pós-graduação em Educação Escolar - FCLAR

A oligarquia paulista e sua articulação com o governo de Floriano Peixoto durante a Revolta da Armada (1893 - 1894)

Pós-graduação em História - FCLAS

Política com café no oeste do Estado de São Paulo: Bento de Abreu Sampaio Vidal (1872-1948)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Vamos à vacina?: doenças, saúde e práticas médico-sanitárias em Belém (1904 a 1911)

Desde o final do século XIX e, até, o início do século XX, Belém na fala do intendente Antonio Lemos era conhecida como a “necrópole” paraense. Doenças e epidemias estavam no centro do debate das práticas médico-sanitárias. O higienismo de médicos tornou se discurso recorrente de intervenção no espaço cotidiano dos moradores, onde as campanhas de profilaxias foram alçadas enquanto responsáveis pela cura da cidade. As ações propostas por esculápios cientistas geraram tensões entre moradores e autoridades públicas diante a aliança do saber médico e o poder público, sobre a qual me propus analisar para explicar o dia-a-dia das medidas coercitivas, no intuito de entender essa aliança. Analisando artigos na imprensa, literatos, jornalistas, políticos, relatos médicos, mensagens de governo, relatórios, fotografias e charges foi possível acompanhar os significados atribuídos pelos contemporâneos em relação as epidemias da varíola, tuberculose e febre amarela, por exemplo, por parte dos saberes médico-sanitários. A belle époque em Belém deixou de ser nessa dissertação um cristal historiográfico, diante as adversidade do viver de sujeitos anônimos. Belém tornou-se um laboratório de experiências, os médicos propunham curá-la para alcançar o tão propalado desenvolvimento econômico ou progresso. A consolidação dessa aliança coube à responsabilidade do renomado sanitarista Oswaldo Cruz, que desembarcou, em 1910, na capital paraense para combater a febre amarela, com carta branca do governador João Coelho. Por outro lado, a cura da cidade ou “necrópole” paraense teve significados mais amplos, destacando-se o sepultamento do mal amarílico, como também, concomitantemente, o sepultamento da oligarquia do coronel Antonio Lemos.

“Matutos” ou astutos? Oligarquia e coronelismo no Pará republicano (1897-1909)

A presente dissertação discute as disputas políticas entre os seguidores dos dois líderes políticos paraenses, no início da República, Antonio Lemos e Lauro Sodré, denominados “lemistas” e ‘’lauristas”, respectivamente. Tem como foco o período em que o grupo liderado por Antonio Lemos conseguiu estabelecer seu domínio oligárquico e busca-se compreender o processo de estabelecimento dessa oligarquia por meio das alianças estabelecidas entre Lemos e os intendentes interioranos, os quais enfrentaram forte oposição não apenas na arena político-partidária, mas também em contendas marcada por forte conteúdo simbólico.

Mídia e política na eleição de 2006: oligarquização da informação e democratização das escolhas

No presente trabalho, discute-se a relação entre o processo de concentração da informação e a busca do eleitor por outros meios de decisão nas eleições de 2006 no Pará, a partir da correlação entre Mídia e Política. Os poucos grupos editoriais que, no Pará, informam o eleitor, são analisados na ótica daquilo que Wanderley Guilherme dos Santos, em “Poliarquia em 3D”, denomina “oligarquização da informação”. Conclui-se que os mídias não tiveram papel essencial na escolha dos eleitores no pleito de 2006. Continuam a influenciar, mas sem o peso de outrora, exatamente a partir da opção do eleitor em buscar outras fontes de informação fora das “oligarquias midiáticas” e democratizar suas escolhas de voto.