ELECTORAL-BEHAVIOR IN BRAZIL - THE 1994 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

The 1994 presidential elections in Brazil made clear the weaknesses of party organization and party identifications in the country. Personal ism, volatility, and low levels of party loyalties characterized the e lectoral behaviour of Brazilian voters. The strongest influence on vot ing decisions came from the economic strategy of the government, the R eal Plan, which defined economic voting as the most important dimensio n of the electoral process and led to a victory on the first ballot fo r Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the candidate of the incumbent government .