Cidadania () is a Brazilian political party. It was originally founded as the Popular Socialist Party (, PPS) by members of the former Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), as a centre-left

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...

party. Despite its left-wing alignment, PPS moved to be opposition against the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

since 2004, forming alliances with centre-right parties, in particular the

Brazilian Social Democracy Party The Brazilian Social Democracy Party (, PSDB), also known as the Brazilian Social Democratic Party or the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy,. is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Brazil. As the formerly third largest p ...

(PSDB), and supporting the

Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff The impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, began on 2 December 2015 with a petition for her impeachment being accepted by Eduardo Cunha, then president of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamber of Deputies, and continued int ...

. Later the party's National Convention adopted the new naming in March 2019, and it was later approved by the Superior Electoral Court that September. The party then began moving towards a more

social liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

position akin to the

third way The Third Way is a predominantly centrist political position that attempts to reconcile centre-right and centre-left politics by advocating a varying synthesis of Right-wing economics, right-wing economic and Left-wing politics, left-wing so ...

History

It was founded in 1992 after the main body of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) decided to reinvent itself as a

party following the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. A minority faction of the Brazilian Communist Party retained the old name. Logomarca do Partido Popular Socialista

The PPS was a part of the coalition government of Brazilian President

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

until December 2004, when its leader withdrew its support from the coalition.

Ciro Gomes Ciro Ferreira Gomes (; born 6 November 1957), known mononymously as Ciro, is a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and academic. Ciro is currently affiliated with and vice-president of the Democratic Labour Party (PDT). Born in São Paulo but rais ...

of the PPS refused to resign from his position as Minister for National Integration, leading to his removal from the PPS's National Executive. The same year, PPS withdrew from the

Foro de São Paulo Foro (, ) is a town in the Northern Red Sea region (Zoba Semienawi Keyih Bahri) of Eritrea. Overview A small city located near the coast, Foro was built at the confluence of the Haddas, Aligide and Comaile rivers. In the 1960s, there was sig ...

, denouncing its support for the governments of

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

in Venezuela and

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

in Cuba. In the 2006 legislative elections, the party won 21 seats in the

chamber of deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. At that time party members held the state governorships of

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

and

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

. In the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

, the PPS endorsed

Geraldo Alckmin Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho (; born 7 November 1952) is a Brazilian physician and politician currently serving as 26th vice president of Brazil. He previously was the List of governors of São Paulo, Governor of São Paulo (state), S� ...

of the

(PSDB). The PPS suffered setbacks in the 2010 general elections when it lost 10 seats in the Chamber of Deputies leaving just 12 remaining, although the party won its first Senate seat. It won no state governorships. The party again supported the PSDB presidential candidate, this time

José Serra José Serra Chirico (; born 19 March 1942) is a Brazilian politician who has served as a Congressman, Senator, Minister of Planning, Minister of Health, Mayor of São Paulo, Governor of São Paulo state, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Brazil) ...

, and was part of his Brazil can do more alliance. Later the party consolidated its position in the opposition to PT. It supported the

impeachment of Dilma Rousseff The impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, began on 2 December 2015 with a petition for her impeachment being accepted by Eduardo Cunha, then president of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamber of Deputies, and continued int ...

in 2016 and formed a coalition with the provisional government with the

Brazilian Democratic Movement Party The Brazilian Democratic Movement (, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a " big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, with the most numbers of senators, ...

(PMDB) and the PSDB, under the rule of

Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 1 January 2019. He took office after the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impe ...

. In 2018, the PPS leadership announced a name change. The justification, according to the leadership, was that the party needs to modernize to attract cadres from the entire political spectrum, new social movements and not be mistakenly branded as a radical party heir to the Brazilian Communist Party or close to parties linked with Brazilian old socialists like PT or PCdoB. The party received new members, such as former black-headed

toucans Toucans (, ) are Neotropical birds in the family Ramphastidae. They are most closely related to the Toucan barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over 40 different species. ...

, members of the progressive liberal LIVRES (Frees) movement, who left the

PSL PSL may refer to: Sport *Pakistan Super League, a Twenty20 cricket league *Palau Soccer League, top division association football league in Palau *Pilipinas Super League, a professional basketball league *Philippine Super Liga, a defunct profes ...

after the party took a hard turn to the right with

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

's affiliation and support for his presidential campaign, and members of new progressive social movements like the AGORA (Now) and ACREDITO! (I Believe!). The party acquired a more liberal and less left-leaning ideology, occupying a more centrist position in the Brazilian political scenario. The decision of the new party name was set to take place after the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

and the party would only rebrand itself definitively after the 2018 elections. For the Brazilian general elections of 2018 PPS joined the coalition ''To unite Brazil'', in support of the candidacy of

. The coalition also includes

, Democrats,

Progressistas Progressistas (; PP) is a centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing political party in Brazil. Founded in 1995 as the Brazilian Progressive Party, it emerged from parties that were successors to National Renewal Alliance, ARENA, the ruling p ...

, Party of the Republic, Brazilian Republican Party, Solidariedade, Brazilian Labour Party and

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. In 23 March 2019, in an Extraordinary Congress, the party decided to officially change its name to Citizenship (''Cidadania''), officially dropping any reference to

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and moving toward

and centrist positions. The new name was to be judged by the TSE and was pending approval. On 19 September 2019, the new name was approved by TSE. In an interview of 17 July 2019 party leader Roberto Freire said that Citizenship is in opposition to President

, starting a process of his

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

, although they had 83% alignment with the government in the congress. For the 2022 Brazilian general election, Citizenship formed a federation with the

(PSDB), forming the Always Forward Federation (or simply referred as the PSDB Cidanania Federation), endorsing the campaign of Simone Tebet from the

Brazilian Democratic Movement The Brazilian Democratic Movement (, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a " big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, with the most numbers of senators, ...

(MDB). For the second round, the party endorsed

International relations

Soon after its foundation, the Popular Socialist Party became a member of the

, an association of South American leftist parties which also included the majority of Brazilian left-wing formations ( PCB, PCdoB, PT, PDT, PSB). However, in 2004 PPS withdrew from the Foro, denouncing its support for authoritarian regimes in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. Despite being in the past a social democratic party, PPS has never been a member of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

(a position held by PDT) nor the

Progressive Alliance The Progressive Alliance (PA) is a political international of progressive and social democratic political parties and organisations founded on 22 May 2013 in Leipzig, Germany. The alliance was formed as an alternative to the existing Socia ...

(a position held by PSB and PT).

Electoral results

Presidential elections

Legislative elections

Main leaders

* Roberto Freire, National President of the party, former Minister of Culture, Federal Deputy and Senator * Rubens Bueno, Federal Deputy * Arnaldo Jordy, Federal Deputy * Cristovam Buarque, former Senator, Minister of Education and Governor * Raul Jungmann, former Minister of Defence, Minister of Public Security and Federal Deputy *

Itamar Franco Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco (; 28 June 19302 July 2011) was a Brazilian politician who served as the 33rd president of Brazil from 29 December 1992 to 1 January 1995. Previously, he was the 21st vice president of Brazil from 1990 until the ...

, former Senator, Governor and President of Brazil * Soninha Francine, City Councillor * Fernando Santana, Honorary President of the party, former Constituent Deputy * Denise Frossard, former Federal Deputy, candidate for Governor of Rio de Janeiro in 2006 * Arnaldo Jardim, Federal Deputy, former State Deputy *

Luciano Rezende Luciano Reinaldo Rezende (born 5 August 1978) is a Brazilian Paralympic archer and Parapan American Games gold medalist. He has competed once at the Summer Paralympics, three times at the World Para Archery Championships and once at the Para Co ...

, Mayor of Vitória * Humberto Souto, Mayor of

Montes Claros Montes Claros is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality located in the northern region of the Federative units of Brazil, state of Minas Gerais. Situated north of the state capital, Belo Horizonte, it lies approximately away. The mun ...

, former Federal Deputy * Davi Zaia, State Deputy * Alex Manente, Federal Deputy, former State Deputy and City Councillor * Jorge Kajuru, Senator, former City Councillor

References

{{Reflist 1992 establishments in Brazil Centrist parties in Brazil Neoliberal parties Liberal parties in Brazil Political parties established in 1992 Social liberal parties