in 2011, said that the party would be neither left nor right and that it would have a program “in favor of Brazil”. It allowed the party to establish bridges and take positions in governments of different ideologies, expanding its reach across the country.
More than ten years later, the acronym continues to apply the same formula, identifying a survey of Sheet based on data from and voting in .
The numbers show that it generally aligns with , a block of diffuse ideological identification, which can form alliances with governments from the left to the right, depending on the interests served.
It was with these parties, especially PP, União Brasil and , that the PSD established most of its municipal coalitions this year, when it won 887 city halls, at the top of the ranking.
Kassab says there was no guideline for this. “I see naturally that the largest number of alliances have been with centrist parties. But our objective is, whenever possible, to have our own candidacy.”
He states that the PSD also formed coalitions with parties on the right and left. “We are a party of dialogue.”
The report also analyzed migration between acronyms, considering the candidates who competed in the 2020 and 2024 elections. The largest flow of politicians who arrived at the PSD or left the party during this period was with , and MDB. Then PL, PSDB and Podemos appear.
Calculating the balance of who left and who arrived, it was the PSDB, which lost the most members to the PSD in the last four years. At the other end, the PSD lost more members than it gained for the Republicans and for the .
With the PL, the flow was balanced — 798 left the former president’s party to join the PSD, while 807 took the opposite path.
In Brasília, the PSD has the highest percentage of agreement in votes in the Chamber of Deputies with acronyms from the center, observing the current legislature.
The party votes more aligned with MDB, Avante, PP, Solidariedade, União Brasil and Republicans. The biggest disagreement is with o and . PSD deputies voted alongside parliamentarians from Bolsonaro’s party on 57% of occasions.
With the PT, at the head of the federal administration under the acronym of Kassab, the agreement rate is 84%.
The report also analyzed the parliamentary fronts with the highest proportion of PSD politicians. In general, they are less polarizing fronts, with a greater balance between left- and right-wing congressmen.
The party has an average representation of 7% in groups, a number that drops to 4% when the theme is “defense of life” (against abortion) or LGBTQIA+ rights.
The data is in line with the stance that Kassab has taken since the creation of the party, when he announced the PSD as a “responsible opposition”.
“The party, people who were in opposition and wanted to get closer to the government, were very popular,” says Bruno Schaefer, professor of political science at UERJ (State University of Rio de Janeiro). “It emerged as a party of accommodation.”
Sergio Simoni Junior, professor of political science at USP, states that the creation of the PSD has to do with the functioning of the Brazilian party system.
“[Funcionamento este] which allows a division of tasks between parties that compete for the Presidency and others that are strong in some states and manage to remain relevant nationally because the forces in the states guarantee good benches, and the benches negotiate with the president”, he says.
Simoni states that this, traditionally, was the character of the MDB and that the PSD emerged as an alternative to the acronym.
Kassab has previously said that he does not consider his party a member of the center and that the party’s program is centrist. Political scientists have difficulty defining the PSD’s programmatic guidelines, but they identify some clues.
“There is something amorphous, there is no total ideological clarity. The PT or Novo are parties with much more clarity”, says Jorge Chaloub, professor of political science at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro).
“On the other hand, it seems to me that a large part of the PSDB advocates reducing some state investments. And a majority is refractory to expanding minority rights. It is not a party that follows an ideological playbook, it will accommodate figures with a degree of diversity. “
With this fluidity, Kassab puts a foot in each canoe, composing and acting as a strong man in São Paulo as Secretary of Government of the administration (Republicans), Bolsonaro’s pupil. In Bahia, Senator Otto Alencar’s PSD is a close ally of the PT administration.
Schaefer states that, by not seeking prominence in the presidential election, the party obtains positions in the federal government, while expanding its reach in the states and being elected to Parliament and to the state or municipal Executive.
Today the PSD is one of the fastest growing parties. The party benefited from the ability to transit between different political spectrums; da , which affected important personnel in the center; and the emptying of the PSDB, a space occupied by Kassab’s party, especially in São Paulo.
Lula works to ensure that the PSD is in the left-wing alliance for the 2026 presidential election, but the party president does not commit to any position. On the other side, Valdemar Costa Neto’s PL has the legend, and Bolsonaro has Kassab.
“If you look at most of the PSD alliances in the municipal elections, they are closer to the ultra-right discourse than to the left”, says Chaloub. “But I don’t think Kassab will be in front of Lula’s or Bolsonaro’s platform. He needs the distance to later compose.”
