The Social Liberal Party ( pt, Partido Social Liberal, links= Partido Social Liberal, PSL) was a far-right

political party in Brazil Brazil has a multi-party system since 1979, when the country's military dictatorship disbanded an enforced two-party system and allowed the creation of multiple parties. Above the broad range of political parties in Brazilian Congress, the Wo ...

, that merged with the Democrats and founded the

Brazil Union The Brazil Union () is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative list of political parties in Brazil, political party in Brazil. The party was founded on 6 October 2021 from a merger between the Democrats (Brazil), Democrats (DEM) and the Soci ...

. Founded in 1994 as a

social-liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

political party, the PSL was registered on the

Superior Electoral Court The Superior Electoral Court ( pt-BR, Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, TSE) is the highest body of the Brazilian Electoral Justice, which also comprises one Regional Electoral Court ( pt-BR, Tribunal Regional Eleitoral, TRE) in each of the 26 states ...

in 1998. In January 2018, former Social Christian Party politician Jair Bolsonaro joined the party and later converted it into an

economically liberal Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalis ...

, Brazilian nationalist, radically anti-communist and

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

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 General elections were held in Brazil on 7 October 2018 to elect the president, National Congress and state governors. As no candidate in the presidential election received more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a runoff round was held ...

and won in both rounds. Bolsonaro left the party in 2019 after disagreements with its president, Luciano Bivar, and then founded

Alliance for Brazil Alliance for Brazil ( pt, Aliança pelo Brasil, ALIANÇA) was a Brazilian far-right political group that aimed to become a political party. With national-conservative roots, it was announced by President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro on 12 November 201 ...

. On October 6, 2021, the party voted to merge with the Democrats to establish the

party.

History

PSL was originally founded on 30 October 1994 by businessman Luciano Bivar as a

social liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

party. It was registered on the

on 2 June 1998. 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. Lucianobivar

In 2015, PSL underwent a reform led by the internal social liberal wing Livres, with names such as political scientist and journalist

Leandro Narloch Leandro Narloch (1978 in Curitiba, Paraná) is a Brazilian journalist and writer. He worked as a reporter at ''Veja'' magazine and as an editor at ''Aventuras na História'' and ''Superinteressante'' magazines, all published by Grupo Abril. He ...

reinforcing the party's affiliation with social liberal policies. PSL also supported the impeachment of former president

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil, holding the position from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the first ...

. On 5 January 2018,

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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

views. After the exit of Livres, the party followed a

national conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, f ...

path, changed its colors from purple to the more

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

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''). 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. 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. It also became the largest single party in the legislative assemblies of both

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. On 28 October 2018, Bolsonaro was elected president with 55.13% of the votes, defeating Workers' Party's

Fernando Haddad Fernando Haddad (born 25 January 1963) is a Brazilian academic and politician who has served as the Brazilian Minister of Finance since 1 January 2023. He was previously the List of mayors of São Paulo, Mayor of São Paulo from 2013 to 2016. He ...

. He took office on 1 January 2019. On 29 October 2018, Bivar was re-appointed as party's president. On 12 November 2019, Bolsonaro announced his departure from the party following disagreements with the national executive. On October 6, 2021, the party voted to merge with the Democrats (DEM) to establish the

party. The new party plans to use the number 44 as its electoral number. The merger was approved by the

and officially became registered on 8 February 2022. As such, both PSL and DEM were disbanded.

Organization

Ideology and policies

Since Bolsonaro's entrance in the party, PSL has changed much of its ideologies. It went from a

party with an

economic liberal Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism, ...

group Livres to a far-right and

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establ ...

party, abandoning its former

cultural liberalism Cultural liberalism is a social philosophy which expresses the social dimension of liberalism and advocates the freedom of individuals to choose whether to conform to cultural norms. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, it is often expressed a ...

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 Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

legalization of marijuana The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...

, and teaching of

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

in schools.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Legislative elections

References

{{Brazilian political parties 1994 establishments in Brazil Anti-communism in Brazil Anti-communist parties Conservative parties in Brazil Far-right political parties in Brazil Federalist parties Militarism National conservative parties Nationalist parties in Brazil Opposition to feminism Organizations that oppose LGBT rights Political parties established in 1994 Political parties in Brazil Right-wing populism in South America Right-wing populist parties Social conservative parties Defunct political parties in Brazil 2022 disestablishments in Brazil Far-right political parties