MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING - POLITICAL IDEOLO GICAL REALIGNMENT IN THE 1994 BRAZILIAN ELECTIONS

This article analyzes the political/ideological realignment which took place in the 1994 elections in Brazil, comparing the results with tho se of earlier electoral disputes (1989 and 1990). The study examines t he relative performance of political parties from the right, center, a nd left in occupying elective posts at various levels: the Presidency, National House of Representatives, National Senate, State Governors' Offices, and State Houses of Representatives. in general, the results pointed to a strengthening and reconstitution of the center in the 199 4 elections, based on the emergence of a new, right-center dominant po litical pole in the country (based on the PSDB-PFL alliance), breaking down the polarization between right and left that had predominated in the 1989 and 1990 elections. The article argues that this trend in tu rn reflects the birth of a new hegemonic project for economic and soci al development in Brazil.