巴西新中产阶级对左翼政党支持减弱的原因分析

Explaining the Brazilian New Middle Class's Weakening Support for Left-wing Parties

近年来,左翼政治势力在掌握拉丁美洲多国执政权十多年后,逐渐显现出衰弱趋势,该现象在巴西尤其显著。同时,21世纪前十年里拉美地区中间阶层的人数不断增长。巴西以收入划分的中间阶层已占全部人口的近一半。该阶层在巴西被称为"新中产阶级",在反对左翼政府的游行示威中起到重要作用,同时他们投给左翼政党的选票也逐渐减少。新中产阶级在经济上的向上流动受益于左翼政党执政期间的经济发展与公共政策,但他们却在近几年里转变了对左翼政府的支持。理解新中产阶级的特征及其政治倾向,有助于从社会支持基础的角度理解巴西近年来的政治形势变化。巴西新中产阶级依然存在的经济脆弱性使其重视工作和自力更生的意义,由此更偏好自由主义的经济发展模式,反对政府的过多干预;此外,原有社会网络的维持使他们在文化上具有保守主义倾向,受家庭主义、熟人网络和福音派教会的深刻影响,重视私人利益且不关心公共福祉,由此加剧对政府社会福利项目的反感。

In recent years,left-wing political forces have gradually shown signs of decline after being in power for more than a decade in many Latin American countries.This is particularly remarkable in Brazil.With the significant increase in the middle-income strata in Latin America in the 2000 s,nearly half of the Brazilians now belong to this stratum based on their earnings.Considered as Brazil’s'new middle class',this group has played an important role in the protests against the left-wing government.Although this new middle class has enjoyed upward mobility thanks to the economic development and public policies under left-wing governments,they have reduced their support for left-wing parties.Therefore,an appreciation of the characteristics of this new middle class and their political tendencies is necessary to understand the recent political changes in Brazil from the perspective of social support.This paper argues that the economic fragility of Brazil’s new middle class and their reliance on individual efforts make them more inclined to the liberal model of economic development and opposed to excessive government intervention.This group cannot become a pro-reform force because of the continuation of traditional social networks that make them culturally conservative.