Da “excelência e das vantagens”: elites, cultura política e representação política através dos debates no Conselho de Estado Imperial (1842 – 1889)

Abstract

This thesis aims to analyze how the political elites of Brazil aproached the issue of representation and political participation in the Empire, throughout the second reign. To do so, the Imperial Council of State was used as the main field of study, considering that this was a political arena that brought together a sector of the imperial political elite that stood out for its importance in various fields of society and political experience. Using the Minute Books of the full council from 1842 to 1889, we have tried to identify the main characteristics of the concepts and ideas of the members of the council, in order to understand how they formulated their thoughts. In the light of asocial-political historiography and with contributions from other fields of knowledge such as Political Science, the thesis presented here seeks to demonstrate how the idea of representative government has consolidated the path of the political debate of these elites, and how this idea has guided much of their actions and decisions throughout that period of time, having the liberal notion of constitutionalism as the main idea to substantiate their positions.