Street-level bureaucrats and candidacies for elected offices

• Grant number: 25/15368-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - State and Government
• Principal Investigator: Gabriela Spanghero Lotta
• Grantee: Telma Luciana Hoyler
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07616-7 - CEM - Center for Metropolitan Studies, AP.CEPID

Abstract

The research aims to investigate how street-level bureaucrats running for municipal elected office transform their professional assets into political capital. The central goal is to understand how these individuals use the symbolic, technical, and relational resources built over their careers to compete for positions in the political field. In Brazil-a country with a large public bureaucracy at the federal, state, and municipal levels, and a competitive, fragmented political system-this type of conversion has become a common strategy, especially in local elections.Throughout their professional paths, public servants at all levels accumulate different types of functional capital: institutional prestige, knowledge of how government systems work, familiarity with social demands and the communities they serve, technical expertise in areas like health, education, and social work, as well as connections within corporate and professional networks. These resources, far from being neutral or strictly administrative, can become valuable political tools, allowing these individuals to present themselves as well-prepared, trustworthy candidates committed to the public interest.The study will map and analyze the mechanisms that make this conversion possible, the resources used in campaigns by former or temporarily licensed civil servants, the challenges they face-such as competition with career politicians or charismatic figures-and the outcomes of their candidacies. It also aims to identify patterns that connect certain professional fields (such as teachers, social workers, police officers, inspectors, etc.) with different electoral trajectories, and to understand how connections with unions, professional associations, and informal networks affect their performance at the polls.By examining this phenomenon, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of the movement between bureaucratic and political spheres. It questions the traditional divide between administration and politics, and sheds light on the informal politicization of public service. The study draws on approaches from political sociology and political science that focus on political professionalization, the construction of legitimacy, the overlap between state arenas, and the role of local bureaucracies in the production of political power.The specific goals of the research are: to identify the types of functional capital public servants use during campaigns and the strategies they adopt; to track the institutional origin of public servant candidates; to analyze their profiles (in terms of gender, race, ideology by party affiliation, etc.); and to examine electoral outcomes in light of these strategies, identifying factors that explain their success or failure at the ballot box.The project will unfold in four main phases: a literature review centered on theories that help explain the transformation of functional capital into political capital; collection of sociodemographic and political data on candidates (age, gender, education, capital, political party, etc.), using information from Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and election results; a survey and semi-structured interviews with public servants who ran for municipal office in the 2024 elections, aiming for a representative sample. (AU)