Machado, “Evangelicals and Politics in Brazil”
Abstract: The aim of this article is to discuss the participation of Evangelicals in Brazilian institutional politics since Neo-Pentecostals have become engaged in party politics and in electoral campaigns. This discussion is based on studies in Rio de Janeiro, where the Neo-Pentecostals’ political activities have had the highest profile, as a result of the election of Evangelicals to legislative and executive positions in the last ten years. The article begins with a brief presentation of the current debate on the relationship between modernity and the secularisation process. It considers the specifics of Latin American societies, especially Brazil, where the line between religion and institutional politics is not fixed. It also examines the changes in the Brazilian religious sphere, and their implications for institutional politics, with the presence of Neo-Pentecostals as new political actors, and discusses the spheres of influence that interest these Evangelical political actors. Finally, it seeks to examine the correlation of the forces of religious institutions, Catholic and Evangelical, and their clashes with the social movements in Brazilian society.