The Evangelical Caucus elected for the Chamber of Deputies at 2022: an analysis of religious activity, economic/business activity and political career

Abstract

The aim of this paper  is to analyze the evangelical caucus elected in 2022 to the Chamber of Federal Deputies in Brazil, seeking to outline its profile and social trajectory, as well as the performance and political career of its components. Therefore, a database was created with the 75 cases indicated by the Inter-Union Department of Parliamentary Advisory, as belonging to the bench, collecting information on gender, race, education, occupation/profession, declaration of assets, religious activity, religious aspect, elected positions held and political positioning throughout 2023, the first year of the mandate. This data was collected on the pages of the Superior Electoral Court and Chamber of Deputies, as well as on other widely circulated journalistic websites. The results pointed to an approximation of the profile of the bench with the other Federal Deputies, but with a great distance from the general profile of the Brazilian population. The diversification of political activity with religious and business activity was also identified, demonstrating that entering politics does not mean abandoning previous social positions. Finally, political careers do not differ from the average of other Federal Deputies, and the bench does not have a homogeneous political positioning, with the weight of the party being more significant than the religious aspect in determining support or opposition to government agendas. Thus, this work hopes to be an important contribution to analyzing this relationship between religion and politics, demonstrating that there are still many questions to be studied.