Social Christian Party (Brazil)

Summary

The Social Christian Party (Portuguese: Partido Social Cristão, PSC) was a Christian-conservative political party in Brazil.

Social Christian Party
Partido Social Cristão
PresidentEveraldo Pereira
Founded1970 (as Republican Democratic Party)[1]
1985 (as Social Christian Party)[2]
Dissolved15 June 2023; 10 months ago (2023-06-15)
Merged intoPodemos
HeadquartersRio de Janeiro and Brasília, Brazil
Membership422,840[3]
IdeologyChristian democracy[4]
Christian right[5]
Social conservatism[6]
Political positionRight-wing[7] to far-right[8]
Historical:
Centre-right[9]
ReligionChristianity
TSE Identification Number20
Website
psc.org.br/

In the 2018 election, the party elected 2 Governors, 1 Senator, 9 Federal Deputies and 30 State Deputies.[10][11][12][13]

In 2022, it announced plans to merge with Podemos.[14] The merge was approved by the Superior Electoral Court on 15 June 2023.[15]

History edit

The party was founded in 1985, as a Christian democratic party.[16] The party supported Fernando Collor de Mello in the presidential election of 1989, and in 1990, the party won first place in the state election for Alagoas, the home state of then-President Collor.[17] However, from 1994, the party declined: its candidates repeatedly lost votes, surpassing only those from far-left parties, who originated from rebel wings of the Workers Party without popular support. The PSC did not elect more than 3 representatives in the three subsequent elections.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro is a former member of the party.[18]

He joined the party in March 2016 to run for president in 2018. With that analysts pointed out that the party was in an increasingly right-wing movement; starting as a centre-right Christian democratic party, then adopting more conservative agenda and towards a nationalist platform.

However, Bolsonaro disagreed with Pastor Everaldo regarding the municipal elections alliance of PSC within PCdoB in Maranhão and joined the PSL.

Ideology edit

Social Christianity derives itself from its supporters' belief that Christianity, more than a religion, is a state of mind that does not segregate and does not exclude, besides serving as a basis for people to make decisions in a rational way,

The party is often associated with conservative evangelical Protestantism because the leadership of the Pastor Everaldo Pereira, a national leader of Assemblies of God in Brazil, over the party. Despite this, the party does not have any affiliation with any church and many of the officials elected by the party, like the incumbents Governor and Vice Governor of Rio de Janeiro Wilson Witzel and Claudio Castro being practising Catholics, with the latter being a well-known Catholic music singer and activist.

The party is a vocal supporter of social conservatism, harshly opposing abortion, LGBT rights, gender theory and the legalization of marijuana. On economics, the party is more moderate, supporting a free-market system with privatization of many of the Brazilian government-owned companies like Petrobrás with an extensive social safety net.

The party adopted a hard-line stance against organized crime and drug trafficking in the governorship of Rio de Janeiro. Under Witzel's government, the number of police operations substantially grew, and the number of police who died on duty has gone down, in addition the number of manslaughters, shootings and robberies went down, although civilian and criminal deaths in police-related incidents has increased. Nevertheless, Witzel has been criticized by the high number of civilian victims of the confrontational politics which he implemented, which includes poor children and elders.

Openly opposed to Marxism, it is historically anti-communist.

Controversies edit

The PSC raised controversy by fielding an openly neo-Nazi candidate in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro legislative elections.[19]

Several party leaders were arrested or dismissed in August 2020 for corruption, including Everaldo Pereira (PSC national president) and Wilson Witzel (governor of Rio de Janeiro).[20]

Electoral results edit

At the legislative elections of 6 October 2002, the party won 1 out of 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and no seats in the Senate. At the legislative elections of 1 October 2006, the party won 9 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. At the legislative elections of 3 October 2010, the party won 17 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 1 seat in the Senate. At the legislative elections of 5 October 2014, the party won 13 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 1 seat in the Senate. At the legislative elections of 7 October 2014, the party won 9 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 1 seat in the Senate.

Presidential elections edit

Year Candidate Votes %
1989 No candidate, endorsed Fernando Collor de Mello n/a n/a
1994 Hernani Fortuna 238,257 0.40%
1998 Sergio Bueno 124,546 0.20%
2002 No candidate, endorsed Anthony Garotinho n/a n/a
2010 No candidate, endorsed Dilma Rousseff n/a n/a
2014 Pastor Everaldo 780,513 0.75%
2018 No candidate, endorsed Alvaro Dias n/a n/a
2022 No candidate, endorsed Jair Bolsonaro n/a n/a

Chamber of Deputies and Senate elections edit

Election Chamber of Deputies Federal Senate Role in government
Votes % Seats +/– Votes % Seats +/–
1986 207,903 0.44%
1 / 487
New N/A N/A
0 / 49
New Coalition
1990 342,079 0.84%
6 / 502
  5 N/A N/A
0 / 31
  0 Coalition
1994 213,734 0.47%
3 / 513
  3 963,615 1.01%
0 / 54
  0 Independent
1998 446,256 0.67%
3 / 513
  0 371,873 0.60%
0 / 81
  0 Independent
2002 504,611 0.58%
1 / 513
  2 293,463 0.19%
0 / 81
  0 Opposition
2006 1,747,863 1.88%
9 / 513
  8 131,548 0.16%
0 / 81
  0 Opposition
2010 3,072,546 3.18%
17 / 513
  8 1,247,157 0.73%
1 / 81
  1 Coalition
2014 2,520,421 2.59%
13 / 513
  4 19,286 0.02%
0 / 81
  1 Coalition
2018 1,765,226 1.80%
8 / 513
  5 4,126,068 2.41%
1 / 81
  1 Coalition
2022 1,951,486 1.77%
6 / 513
  2 4,285,485 4.21%
1 / 81
  0 Opposition

References edit

 
Pastor Everaldo Pereira (left)
  1. ^ "Conheça a história do Partido Social Cristão (PSC) - Estudo Prático".
  2. ^ "PSC - Partido Social Cristão - Histórico". Archived from the original on 28 July 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016. (in portuguese)
  3. ^ http://inter04.tse.jus.br/ords/dwtse/f?p=2001:104:::NO[permanent dead link]::: (in portuguese)
  4. ^ "Qual é a ideologia de cada partido brasileiro?". palavras palavras (in Portuguese). 31 July 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  5. ^ Pereira, Merval (6 January 2019). "A força dos evangélicos". Merval Pereira - O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Missão e Valores".
  7. ^ "Conheça a história do Partido Social Cristão (PSC)".
  8. ^ "O que significa esquerda, direita e centro na política? - Política". Estadão. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  9. ^ Burnell, Peter (2006). Funding Democratization. Transaction Publishers. p. 120.
  10. ^ "PT supera MDB e governará quatro estados; veja quem são os eleitos". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 29 October 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Saiba como eram e como ficaram as bancadas no Senado, partido a partido". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 8 October 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Saiba como eram e como ficaram as bancadas na Câmara dos Deputados, partido a partido". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 8 October 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  13. ^ "PSL multiplica por 4 número de deputados nas Assembleias; MDB é o que mais perde". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 8 October 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Podemos e PSC anunciam fusão; o partido terá 18 deputados e 7 senadores". CartaCapital (in Brazilian Portuguese). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  15. ^ "TSE aprova incorporação do Partido Social Cristão pelo Podemos". Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (in Brazilian Portuguese). 16 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "Conheça a história do Partido Social Cristão (PSC)". Estudo Prático (in Brazilian Portuguese). 28 October 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  17. ^ Brasil, CPDOC-Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação História Contemporânea do. "PARTIDO SOCIAL CRISTAO (PSC)". CPDOC – Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação de História Contemporânea do Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Bolsonaro tem apenas quatro votos em eleição para presidente da Câmara". UOL Notícias (in Portuguese). 2 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  19. ^ "Neonazista assumido, "professor" é candidato para vereador no Rio pelo PSC | by eDemocratize | eDemocratize | Medium". 11 September 2016.
  20. ^ "Quem é Pastor Everaldo, preso em operação sobre fraude de contratos no Rio".

External links edit

  • Official web site (in portuguese)
Preceded by Numbers of Brazilian Official Political Parties
20 – SCP (PSC)
Succeeded by