Representation and Development in Brazil, 1972-1973

Résumé 0

Conducted in 1973-1974 in Brazil, this survey was designed to measure two sets of respondents' preferences regarding salient policy issues, their evaluations of political life and government performance, and their conceptions of relationships between themselves and their representatives in labor unions and in the political arena at large. Interview schedules for each group of respondents are nearly identical, but the sampling frames are very different. Therefore, the data from the separate samples are supplied as Part 1 (Mass Sample) and Part 2 (Union Sample) in two separate files. Variables include respondents' preferences as to which course of action the government should take in each of a series of policy domains, ranging from birth control and income redistribution to the limits on political opposition and governmental controls over organized labor. There are variables indicating respondents' opinions elicited on several current issues of controversy, including the political role of the military, censorship, and the system of indirect elections. The survey also contains data on the respondents' degree of organizational involvement of unionized workers, including variables pertaining to their participation in sindicatos (unions), their evaluation of the performance of the sindicato leadership, and indications of how the represented might hold the leadership to account for their actions. Additional variables deal with membership evaluation of sindicato functions and influence, respondents' party identification, past electoral choices, and evaluations of post-1964 government policies. Other variables include respondents' interest in politics and in the operation of government, as well as their perceptions of the effect of government on their lives. Variables provided by the interviewers include perceptions of the respondents' interest in the interview, the sincerity with which questions were answered, and the presence and behavior of other persons at the interview. A full range of background information is also contained in the data collection, including variables on respondents' age, sex, race, religion, educational level, occupation, income, marital status, birthplace, father's education and occupation, migration, and media use.