NATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF INDUSTRY’S COMPONENTS OF COLLECTIVE ACTION: POLITICAL LEGITIMACY AND DISTRIBUTED POWER

Abstract

Drawing on interpretations of CNI’s collective action, such as Mancuso's (2007a) or its recent combination with Boito Jr's (2018) perspective on class conflicts, this research understands the entity’s lobbying activity as a means of regaining political legitimacy for its leadership. This is emphasized by highlighting the responsiveness and potential control of this group’s the actions by the small and medium bourgeoisie. Therefore, two components of CNI's collective action are analyzed in view of its mobilization and organization (Tilly, 1978) through literature review, semi-structured interviews, and CNI’s documents interpretation. The change in CNI's internal structure since the 1990s is revealed as a key factor in the restoration of its political legitimacy in the face of its constituents. This process is rooted in chivalry agreements within a mobilization network characterized by distributed power, which takes two forms: one in the South and Southeast, and another spread across the country. This results in disputes between regional entrepreneurs’ groups for control of CNI's resources. It concludes pointing to a need for empirical examination of the relationships of representation in the political scene to discern its possible shifts from class’s political practices in the power bloc.