Is Workers' Party left wing or right wing?

On economic organisation Workers' Party scores −05 on a scale from −10 (common ownership) to +10 (private property and markets). On social and cultural order it scores −05. A single left–right figure combines these and four further measurements that move independently, which is why the atlas reports six.

Is Workers' Party authoritarian?

On the organisation of power, which measures whether authority is dispersed among institutions that can stop each other or concentrated in a single centre, Workers' Party scores −02. Constitutional democracy; accepted electoral defeat in 2018 and impeachment in 2016.

Atlas / Organisations / Workers' Party

Workers' Party

PT · 1980– · Brazil · Social Democratic · Electoral party · coding confidence high

−05ECcollective

−05CUpluralist

−02AUpluralist

+03SCcentral

−05IDuniversal

−05CHlawful

Each axis runs from −10 to +10, with zero a genuine mixed or balanced position rather than an absence of opinion. A score describes a stated position and a governing record; it is not a judgement of merit. What each score means →

Core principles

Poverty reduction, industrial policy, social inclusion, multilateral foreign policy.

Economic model

Conditional cash transfers, minimum wage indexation, development bank lending, market economy with inflation targeting.

Organisation of powers

Constitutional democracy; accepted electoral defeat in 2018 and impeachment in 2016.

Reading note

Reduced extreme poverty substantially while operating within an orthodox macroeconomic framework.

Check a claim about Workers' Party. The interactive atlas measures the distance between any two organisations across all six axes and shows which ones carry the disagreement.

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The evidence for every score

All six cells are sourced. A rationale explains what the score is measuring and each artefact is something a third party can check without taking anyone's word for it.

EC · Economic organisation · scored −05

Coded −5: transfers and minimum wage indexation inside an orthodox macroeconomic frame.

Comparative datasetBolsa Família reached a quarter of the population; extreme poverty roughly halved between 2003 and 2014.
Documented act or statuteInflation targeting, a floating currency and primary surplus targets were retained from the previous government.

CU · Social and cultural order · scored −05

Coded −5: socially progressive in appointments and policy without confronting the evangelical caucus.

Documented act or statuteQuota legislation for public universities in 2012; abortion remains criminalised.

AU · Organisation of power · scored −02

Coded −2: constitutional throughout, including through impeachment and imprisonment of its leaders.

Documented act or statuteAccepted the 2016 impeachment and the 2018 defeat; its founder's convictions were later annulled by the supreme court.

SC · Scale of decision · scored +03

Coded +3: national programmes administered through a strong federation.

Documented act or statuteBolsa Família is federally funded and municipally delivered.

ID · Rule of membership · scored −05

Coded −5: expanded refugee admission and regional integration.

Documented act or statuteBrazil admitted over 500,000 Venezuelans under a dedicated regularisation programme.

CH · Method and tempo · scored −05

Coded −5: electoral throughout, including through impeachment and imprisonment.

Documented act or statuteIts founder returned to the presidency by election after his convictions were annulled.

Nearest organisations by measured distance

Straight-line separation across all six axes, out of a maximum of 49.0. Proximity means similarity of stated position, not endorsement and not resemblance in outcome.

Countries

Brazil

Cite this page

Scores are revised on evidence, so a citation should carry the version it refers to. Version 4.3.1 is current; the revision log records every change.

McGrath, K. (2026). Workers' Party. The Political Atlas, version 4.2. https://thepoliticalatlas.com/organisations/pt/ (accessed 2026-08-01).

Free to quote and reproduce with attribution. This is a synthesis rather than a peer-reviewed dataset — where an authoritative figure is needed, cite the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, the Manifesto Project or V-Dem.