ABSTRACT
In every democratic country in the world, election campaigns involve substantial financial costs, although actual expenses are not easy to determine. Even in countries where the campaign costs are relatively low, or subject to strict surveillance by the courts or other agencies, it is possible to observe a discrepancy between “official” and actual spending. There are few politicians with sufficient money of their own to finance the expensive election campaigns in Brazil. The most conservative estimate of expenditures on Pernambuco’s 1986 election campaign indicates that no less than $70 million was spent. The political parties carefully organize the financial control of election campaigns, which has led to increased prestige and power for their treasurers, who use unofficial books and other unorthodox means to handle campaign funds. In general, mayors, governors, and senators have been the election campaign figures around whom the webs of power and influence are woven, on whom the cabos eleitorais, town councillors, and deputies depend.
