Roberta Picussa

Roberta Picussa is a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Science and Technology in Democratic Representation and Legitimacy (INCT ReDem), based at the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil (UFPR). She holds a PhD in Political Science and an MA in Public Policy. She is the Secretary-General of the Brazilian Institute of Parliamentary Law (PARLA). She has worked at the Legislative Assembly of the State of Paraná, serving for ten years as pedagogical coordinator of the Legislative School, eight years as editor-in-chief of Revista do Legislativo Paranaense, and one year as advisor to the Chair of the Committee on Constitution and Justice.

The project

Title: Anti-Political Establishment Attitudes and Electoral Behavior in Brazil and France: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

"This project aims to identify the factors that characterize anti-political establishment attitudes among Brazilian voters, examine how these attitudes influence electoral behavior toward outsider candidates, and analyze similarities and differences compared with existing research on populist attitudes and electoral behavior in France. To achieve this objective, the project is structured in two phases. The first focuses on Brazil and combines qualitative and quantitative data from two research initiatives by the Brazilian National Institute of Science and Technology in Democratic Representation and Legitimacy (INCT ReDem). The first component, which I coordinate, consists of focus groups investigating voters' perceptions of outsider candidates, anti-establishment leaders, and traditional politicians. The second is a national survey entitled Visions of Democracy in Times of Polarization: A Study on Democratic Satisfaction in Brazil. The second phase focuses on a comparison between Brazil and France, utilizing extensive data and analyses from SciencesPo-CEVIPOF researchers, particularly on populist attitudes and electoral behavior. These resources include multiple waves of the Baromètre de la Confiance Politique and the research notes produced from its findings, as well as other surveys such as the Enquête Électorale Française and the European Social Survey."

Hosting institution: Sciences Po-CEVIPOF

Selective Bibliography

• Picussa, R.. Outsiders: um conceito de difícil operacionalização na Ciência Política. Revista de Sociologia e Política, v. 31, p. 1-27, 2023.
• Codato, A., Picussa, R., Ribeiro, E. (2025). The Election of Outsider Deputies in Chile and Brazil. In: Telles, H., Silva, J. (eds) Public Opinion and Turmoil In Latin American Democracies. Latin American Societies. Springer, Cham.
• Picussa, R., Souza, R. A. D., & Codato, A. (2023). Estabelecidos, outsiders e renovadores: mensurando a lealdade partidária dos deputados federais eleitos em 2018. Revista Brasileira de Ciência Política, (41), e267142.
• CALABREZ (Felipe), CODATO (Adriano), PICUSSA (Roberta) « Le « paradoxe démocratique » desBrésiliens : plusieurs cadres d’interprétation en tension », Sciences Po CEVIPOF, août 2025, 16 p.