As urnas sagradas do Império do Brasil: governo representativo e práticas eleitorais em Minas Gerais (1846-1881)

Abstract

This dissertation is about the elections that took place in the Brazilian Empire during the Second Reign. We examined the conceptual basis operated by the founders of the Brazilian National State with regard to the building of a representative government of a liberal type, as well as the appropriations performed by the political class about political concepts and paradigms that guided the development of laws related to the electoral reforms context. Through the analysis of the voting records of the province of Minas Gerais, we sought to investigate the ritualized practices observed in the voting acts. It is expected, thereby, to demonstrate that within the Empires electoral system was a liturgical language that lent itself to legitimate, under the religious realm, the government interventions over the elections and the national representation as a whole.