Investment networks and campaigns financing in Minas Gerais

Abstract The state of Minas Gerais was a pioneer in Brazil in adopting a legal framework governing public-private partnerships (PPPs). While the modernization of the state had, as one of its main pillars the partnership between it and the markets, at the same time this suggested the existence of certain social dilemmas facing Brazil's democracy, such as the private financing of electoral campaigns. Using the structural sociology of relationships, certain inter-organizational investment networks were analyzed, made up of 127 actors and covering the period between 2000 and 2014, to identify which of these actors helped finance candidates for governor and/or political parties in the 2002, 2006 and 2010 elections. The survey showed evidence of the modernization of the state through the expertise of organizations and indicated the influence of economic powers in meeting public demands and the private financing of election campaigns.