The History of the Labour Party (1979-2002)

This work aims to show how the Workers’ Party paved the way to reach executive power in Brazil in 2002. In addition, it seeks to understand how the party built a hegemonic project for the Brazilian left. Since its inception, the Workers’ Party has sought to discuss its programmes and has altered some of the proposals established at its founding, attempting to bring itself up to date with the existing reality. This process of reform intensified from the moment the PT began to administer municipalities and states and compete for the federal government. The proposals of the 1989, 1994, 1998, and 2002 presidential campaigns underwent major changes in the country’s administrative concepts. Historical reality made the PT a dynamic party, and these transformations did not cause it to abandon its main cause, socialism, but rather to adopt a social democratic orientation.