Industrial Workers and the Birth of the Populist Republic in Brazil, 1945-1946.

The article argues that the political transition of 1945-1946 that ended the Estado Novo dictatorship is best seen as a radical break with the past marked by the dramatic entry of the urban working class into Brazilian political life. It demonstrates that Getülio Vargas' 1945 electoral legislation was successfully designed to alter Brazilian electoral life through effective mass enfranchisement in urban areas. It then discusses the nature of grass-roots mobilization in the industrial region of greater São Paulo, named ABC after Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo, and São Caetano.