Social Liberal Party (Brazil)

Brazilian national-conservative political party

This article is about a conservative and nationalist party. For Brazilian liberal parties, see Liberalism in Brazil.

Social Liberal Party

Partido Social Liberal

Abbreviation| PSL
President| Luciano Bivar
Founded| 30 October 1994; 30 years ago (1994-10-30)
Dissolved| 8 February 2022; 3 years ago (2022-02-08)
Merged into| Brazil Union
Headquarters| SHN, Quadra 02, Bloco F, Ed. Executive Office Tower, Sala 1.122 – Brasília, DF
Membership (October 2021)| 74,824[1]
Ideology| 2018–2022:
Brazilian nationalism[2]
Conservatism[3][4]
Economic liberalism[5]
Federalism[2]
National conservatism[6]
Right-wing populism[7]
Anti-communism[2]
1994–2018:
Social liberalism[8]
Classical liberalism[8]
Cultural liberalism[8]
Political position| 2018–2022:
Right-wing to far-right[9]
1994–2018:
Centre
Colours|   Blue
Yellow
Green
TSE Identification Number| 17
Website
psl.org.br

* Politics of Brazil
* Political parties
* Elections

The Social Liberal Party (Portuguese: Partido Social Liberal, PSL) was a far-right[9] political party in Brazil, that merged with the Democrats and founded the Brazil Union. Founded in 1994 as a social-liberal political party, the PSL was registered on the Superior Electoral Court in 1998.

In January 2018, former Social Christian Party politician Jair Bolsonaro joined the party and later converted it into an economically liberal, Brazilian nationalist, radically anti-communist and social conservative party. The original name remained after the ideological shift, and after Livres (the party's original main wing) left the party and formed their own political movement to continue the party's original goals. Bolsonaro became the party's nominee for the 2018 Brazilian general election and won in both rounds. Bolsonaro left the party in 2019 after disagreements with its president, Luciano Bivar, and then founded Alliance for Brazil.[10]

On 6 October 2021, the party voted to merge with the Democrats to establish the Brazil Union party.[11]

## History

[edit]

PSL's logo from 1994 to 2004

PSL was originally founded on 30 October 1994 by businessman Luciano Bivar as a social liberal party.[12] It was registered on the Superior Electoral Court on 2 June 1998.[13]

In the 2002 legislative elections, PSL won 1 out of 513 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and no seats in the Federal Senate. In the 2006 legislative elections, the party won no seats in the Chamber of Deputies or the Federal Senate. In the 2010 legislative elections, PSL won 1 seat in the Chamber of Deputies and no seats in the Federal Senate, maintaining the same results in the 2014 legislative elections.

Luciano Bivar during the 2006 Brazilian general election

In 2015, PSL underwent a reform led by the internal social liberal wing Livres, with names such as political scientist Fábio Ostermann [pt] and journalist Leandro Narloch reinforcing the party's affiliation with social liberal policies.[14][15] PSL also supported the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff.[16]

On 5 January 2018, conservative and former Social Christian politician Jair Bolsonaro became a member of the party, which prompted the Livres wing to leave the party in protest of Bolsonaro's social conservative views. After the exit of Livres, the party followed a national conservative path, changed its colors from purple to the more nationalist blue, yellow and green (the colors of Brazil's flag) and since then has discussed a name change either to Republicans (Republicanos) or Mobilize (Mobiliza).[17] On 5 March 2018, Bivar stepped down from party's presidency and Gustavo Bebianno was appointed as acting president.

Bolsonaro eventually became PSL's nominee for the 2018 presidential election, exceeding polling forecasts to receive 46% of the popular vote in the first round.[18] Bolsonaro's coattails helped elect 52 deputies and 4 senators from PSL, which made it the second largest political party in the post-2018 Chamber of Deputies.[19] It also became the largest single party in the legislative assemblies of both Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.[20][21] On 28 October 2018, Bolsonaro was elected president with 55.13% of the votes, defeating Workers' Party's Fernando Haddad.[22] He took office on 1 January 2019.[23]

On 29 October 2018, Bivar was re-appointed as party's president.[24] On 12 November 2019, Bolsonaro announced his departure from the party following disagreements with the national executive.[25]

On 6 October 2021, the party voted to merge with the Democrats (DEM) to establish the Brazil Union party. The new party plans to use the number 44 as its electoral number.[11] The merger was approved by the Superior Electoral Court and officially became registered on 8 February 2022.[26] As such, both PSL and DEM were disbanded.

## Organization

[edit]

PSL while housing the Livres movement

### Ideology and policies

[edit]

Since Bolsonaro's entrance in the party, PSL has changed much of its ideologies. It went from a social-liberal party with an economic liberal group Livres[27] to a far-right and right-wing populist party, abandoning its former cultural liberalism and keeping its economic liberal policies, supporting privatisation and decentralisation, while at the same time adopting cultural conservatism as well as social-conservative policies regarding abortion, legalization of marijuana, and teaching of gender identity in schools.[2]

## Electoral history

[edit]

### Presidential elections

[edit]

Election  | Party candidate  | Running mate  | Colligation  | Votes | % | Votes | % | Result  | Sources

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

First round  | Second round
2006 | Luciano Bivar (PSL)  | Américo de Souza (PSL)  | None | 62.064  | 0.06% (#7)  | \-  | \-  | Lost N | [28][29][30]
2014 | Marina Silva (PSB)  | Beto Albuquerque (PSB)  | PSB; PHS; PRP; PPS; PPL; PSL  | 22,176,619  | 21.32% (#3)  | \-  | \-  | Lost N | [31][32][33][34]
2018 | Jair Bolsonaro (PSL)  | Hamilton Mourão (PRTB)  | PSL; PRTB | 49,276,990  | 46.0% (No. 1)  | 57,797,801  | 55.13% (No. 1)  | Elected Y | [35][36][37][38][39]

### Legislative elections

[edit]

Election | Chamber of Deputies | Federal Senate | Government

|
|
|

Votes | % | Seats | +/–  | Votes | % | Seats | +/–
2002 | 408,512  | 0.47%  |

1 / 513

|  1  | 295,807  | 0.19%  |

0 / 81

|  0  | Opposition
2006 | 190,793  | 0.20%  |

0 / 513

|  1  | 46,542  | 0.06%  |

0 / 81

|  0  | Extra-parliamentary
2010 | 499,963  | 0.52%  |

1 / 513

|  1  | 446,517  | 0.26%  |

0 / 81

|  0  | Opposition
2014 | 808,710  | 0.83%  |

1 / 513

|  0  | did not participate |

0 / 81

|  0  | Opposition
2018 | 11,457,878  | 11.65%  |

52 / 513

|  51  | 19,413,869  | 11.33%  |

4 / 81

|  4  | Coalition

## See also

[edit]

* Patriota

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Estatísticas do eleitorado – Eleitores filiados" (in Portuguese). Superior Electoral Court. November 2021. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
2. ^ a b c d "Em que acreditamos" (in Portuguese). Social Liberal Party. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
3. ^ "Brazil elections: Bolsonaro and Haddad choices before voters". BBC. 28 October 2018.
4. ^ Scuch, Matheus (5 January 2018). "Bolsonaro decide concorrer à Presidência pelo PSL" (in Portuguese). GaúchaZH. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
5. ^ "Com chegada de Bolsonaro, Livres anuncia saída do PSL". Estadão.
6. ^ "Jair Bolsonaro seeks top judge to become Brazil justice minister". BBC News. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
7. ^ Pearson, Samantha; Magalhaes, Luciana (28 October 2018). "Far-right populist Jair Bolsonaro wins divisive Brazil presidential election". MarketWatch. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
8. ^ a b c "Quem Somos" (in Portuguese). Livres. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
9. ^ a b * Blunck, Julia (17 October 2018). "Why Brazil's far-right challenger Jair Bolsonaro has already won". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
* Phillips, Tom; Phillips, Dom (7 October 2018). "Far-right populist Jair Bolsonaro leads as Brazil goes to vote". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
* "Brazil far-right politician enters presidential race". BBC News. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
* Londoño, Ernesto; Darlington, Shasta (17 October 2018). "Jair Bolsonaro Wins Brazil's Presidency, in a Shift to the Far Right". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
* Federowski, Bruno; Marcello, Maria Carolina (8 October 2018). "Bolsonaro transforms tiny Brazil party into congressional powerhouse". Reuters. Retrieved 4 November 2018.[permanent dead link]
* Cuadros, Alex (8 October 2018). "Brazil Turns Its Back on Democracy". The Atlantic. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
* Frederowski, Bruno; Mandl, Carolina (8 October 2018). "Brazil's far-right Bolsonaro: No coalition politics in cabinet picks". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
* Mortari, Marcos (9 March 2018). "Com Bolsonaro, extrema-direita embarca forte (e para vencer) nesta eleição, diz analista" (in Portuguese). InfoMoney. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
* Miro, Jordi; Genot, Louis (8 October 2018). "Bolsonaro 'tsunami' swells far-right party in Brazil congress". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
* Benites, Afonso (6 August 2018). "Mourão, o controverso general que sela a chapa puramente militar de Bolsonaro". El Pais (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 October 2018.
* "Brazil's right-wing presidential frontrunner says he's an 'admirer' of Trump". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
* Meredith, Sam (9 October 2018). "Who is the 'Trump of the Tropics?': All you need to know about Brazil's presidential frontrunner". CNBC. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
* "Brazil's overhauled congress to be dominated by hard right". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
* "Brazil right-wing firebrand Jair Bolsonaro wins first presidential round". Financial Review. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
* "Brazilians are so averse to the Workers' Party they're willing to elect a radical far-right populist — Quartz". qz.com. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
* "Emerging Markets Have Struggled All Year. Here's One Country Bucking the Trend". Money.com. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
* "Far-Right Politics and Its Historical Marriage to Fascism". Brewminate. 20 November 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2025. "The far right has continued to operate throughout Brazil[104] and a number of far-right parties existed in the modern era including Patriota, the Brazilian Labour Renewal Party, the Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order, the National Renewal Alliance and the Social Liberal Party as well as death squads such as the Command for Hunting Communists."
10. ^ "Bolsonaro anuncia saída do PSL e criação de novo partido" (in Portuguese). G1. 12 November 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
11. ^ a b null. "Convenção coletiva formaliza fusão PSL-DEM e criação do União Brasil". Gazeta do Povo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 7 October 2021.
12. ^ "PSL - Partido Social Liberal 17" (in Portuguese). Social Liberal Party. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
13. ^ "Partido Social Liberal - Nossa História". psl.org.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
14. ^ "Partido Social Liberal". Pslnacional.org.br (in Portuguese). Social Liberal Party. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
15. ^ Constantino, Rodrigo (28 January 2016). "PSL se renova e foca mais no "liberal" da sigla. Ou: It's happening!" (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
16. ^ "Impeachment de Dilma: saiba como votou cada um dos partidos na Câmara" (in Portuguese). Agência Brasil. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
17. ^ "Deputado Jair Bolsonaro anuncia filiação ao PSL" (in Portuguese). G1. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
18. ^ "Jair Bolsonaro: Far-right candidate wins first round of Brazil election". BBC News. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
19. ^ Gamarski, Rachel; Adghirni, Samy (8 October 2018). "Bolsonaro Election Effect Turns Brazil's Congress on Its Head". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
20. ^ "Deputados estaduais eleitos no RJ; veja lista" (in Portuguese). G1. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
21. ^ Pessoa, Gabriela Sá; Saldaña, Paulo (8 October 2018). "PSDB cai pela metade na Assembleia de SP e PSL se torna principal bancada". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 13 October 2018.
22. ^ Faiolo, Anthony; Lopes, Marina (7 October 2018). "Brazil's far-right candidate takes big lead in presidential election". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
23. ^ Londoño, Ernesto; Darlington, Shasta (28 October 2018). "Jair Bolsonaro, Far-Right Populist, Elected President of Brazil". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
24. ^ Grillo, Marco (29 October 2018). "Um dia após vitória de Bolsonaro, PSL troca presidência do partido". O Globo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 November 2018.
25. ^ "Bolsonaro anuncia saída do PSL e criação do Aliança pelo Brasil" (in Portuguese). R7. 12 November 2019.
26. ^ Alves, Renato (6 October 2021). "Convenção marca junção de PSL-DEM e surgimento do União Brasil | O TEMPO". www.otempo.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 18 October 2022.
27. ^ Fucs, José (5 January 2018). "Com chegada de Bolsonaro, Livres anuncia saída do PSL". O Estado de São Paulo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 November 2018.
28. ^ "Candidatos - Presidente - Luciano Bivar". Folha de São Paulo (in Portuguese). 12 August 2006.
29. ^ "Luciano Bivar (PSL)" (in Portuguese). 21 August 2006.
30. ^ "Bivar por Bivar". G1 (in Portuguese). 11 November 2006.
31. ^ "PSL ficará na coligação, diz assessoria de Marina Silva". Exame. 3 December 2018.
32. ^ "Marina Silva's coalition likely to back presidential candidate Aécio Neves". Agência Brasil. 9 October 2014.
33. ^ "Wilderness to wildest dreams: the remarkable rise of Bolsonaro's Social Liberal Party in Brazil". LSE. 1 March 2019.
34. ^ "Partidos da coligação aprovam candidatura de Marina Silva". G1 (in Portuguese). 21 August 2014.
35. ^ "Jair Bolsonaro: Far-right candidate wins Brazil poll". BBC. 29 October 2018.
36. ^ "Ficha do candidato a presidente Jair Bolsonaro - PSL | Eleições 2018 | Folha". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 23 July 2020.
37. ^ "Front-runner Bolsonaro has campaign riddled with controversy". Agência Brasil. 7 October 2018.
38. ^ "Apuração pelo Brasil". G1 (in Portuguese). 28 October 2018.
39. ^ "Jair Bolsonaro gana en Brasil y se convierte en presidente electo: mira aquí los resultados de las elecciones estado por estado". BBC (in Spanish). 28 October 2018.

Preceded by

16 - USWP (PSTU)

|  Numbers of Brazilian Official Political Parties
17 - SLP (PSL)(defunct)  | Succeeded by

18 - NETWORK (REDE)

|
|

* v
* t
* e

Political parties in Brazil

Parties represented in
the Chamber of Deputies
(513 seats)|

* Liberal Party (97)
* Workers' Party (68)
* Brazil Union (59)
* Progressives (50)
* Brazilian Democratic Movement (43)
* Social Democratic Party (43)
* Republicans (41)
* Democratic Labour Party (18)
* Brazilian Socialist Party (15)
* We Can (15)
* Brazilian Social Democracy Party (14)
* Socialism and Liberty Party (13)
* Communist Party of Brazil (7)
* Forward (7)
* Green Party (6)
* Citizenship (4)
* Democratic Renewal Party (5)
* Solidarity (4)
* New Party (3)
* Sustainability Network (1)

Parties represented
in the Federal Senate
(81 seats)|

* Social Democratic Party (15)
* Liberal Party (12)
* Brazilian Democratic Movement (11)
* Workers' Party (8)
* Brazil Union (7)
* Progressives (6)
* Brazilian Socialist Party (4)
* Republicans (4)
* We Can (4)
* Democratic Labour Party (3)
* Brazilian Social Democracy Party (2)
* New Party (1)

Other registered parties|

* Act
* Brazilian Communist Party
* Brazilian Labour Renewal Party
* Brazilian Woman's Party
* Christian Democracy
* National Mobilization
* Popular Unity
* United Socialist Workers' Party
* Workers' Cause Party

Unregistered active parties|

* Libertarians
* Pirate Party
* Revolutionary Communist Party

Defunct parties|

* Alliance for Brazil
* Brazilian Black Front
* Brazilian Integralist Action
* Brazilian Labour Party (1945)
* Brazilian Labour Party (1981)
* Catholic Electoral League
* Christian Democratic Party
* Conservative Party
* Conservative Republican Party
* Democratic Party
* Democratic Social Party
* Democrats
* Evolutionist Liberal Party of Ceará
* Federal Republican Party
* Fluminense Republican Party
* Free Fatherland Party
* Gaúcho United Front
* Humanist Party of Solidarity
* Liberal Party (1831)
* Liberal Party (1985)
* Liberator Party
* Mineiro Republican Party
* National Democratic Union
* National Renewal Alliance
* Orienting Labour Party
* Party of Popular Representation
* Party of the Christian Democracy of Brazil
* Party of the Nation's Retirees
* Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order
* Patriot
* Paulista Republican Party
* Progressive League
* Progressive Republican Party
* Progressive Party
* Proletarian Liberation Party
* Reform Progressive Party
* Renovator Labour Party
* Republican Party
* Republican Party of the Social Order
* Retirees' National Party of Brazil
* Rio-grandense Republican Party
* Social Christian Party
* Social Democratic Party (1945)
* Social Democratic Party (1987)
* Social Labour Party
* Social Liberal Party
* Social Progressive Party
* Socialist Republican Party of Ceará
* Syndicalist Popular Party
* Workers' General Party

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