Coronel, Coronelismo

Coronel is a rural political boss during the predominantly agrarian phase of Brazilian history (c. 1870–1940); coronelismo is the phenomenon of local and regional political rule by one or more coronéis.

A coronel was a member of the local economic and social elite, generally a landowner, merchant, lawyer, or even a priest, who rose to political prominence in his region because of his status in society. The title of coronel, or colonel, a military rank, was frequently associated with Brazil's National Guard (1834–1917). Prominent citizens took part in guard activities and held military rank. The use of military titles became pervasive in rural Brazil, where the elite seldom had formal higher education. Many influential political coronels never held official rank in the guard, however.

By using his economic and social resources, the coronel controlled a large dependent population, whose well-being was his concern. In return, the common folk obeyed their coronel. The First Republic (1889–1930) observed the rituals of the electoral process, however fraudulent and manipulated, and coronéis came to play the role of vote producers for state and national politicians, exchanging votes for favors.

By the 1910s, intricate alliances of coronéis and state and national politicians emerged. Influential coronéis were able to bring in public works—frequently roads, dams, and even railroads—which opened up backward agricultural enclaves to urban and export centers. Attentive national and state politicians made sure that key coronéis got what they wanted. The coronéis in turn appointed all local and state officials in their towns and exacted absolute loyalty from them. Many important coronéis never held public office.

This system of personal parallel governance especially thrived in the north, northeast, and far west, the country's agrarian bastion and backwaters. In the center-south, coronéis were often loyal members of regional parties. After 1930 coronelismo as an informal form of government for rural Brazil began to wane as the country experienced intensive urbanization, industrialization, and political centralization.

See alsoCaudillismo, Caudillo; Patronage.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Corrêa, Valmir Batista. Coronéis e bandidos em Mato Grosso, 1889–1943. Campo Grande, Brazil: Editora UFMS, 1995.

Leal Nunes, Victor. Coronelismo: The Municipality and Representative Government in Brazil, translated by June Henfrey (1977).

Pang, Eul-Soo. Bahia in the First Brazilian Republic: Coronelismo and Oligarchies, 1889–1934 (1979).

Pereira De Queiroz, Maria Isaura. O mandonismo local na vida política brasileira e outros ensaios (1976).

Walker, Thomas W., and Agnaldo de Sousa Barbosa. Dos coronéis á metrópole: Fios e tramas da sociedade e da política em Ribeirão Preto no século XX. Ribeirão Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil: Palavra Mágica, 2000.

                                     Eul-Soo Pang