This paper reviews the principal findings of the Brazilian Legislative Survey project which began in 1990 and has been applied in each elected legislature since, for a total of six waves through 2009. The survey has received 997 completed questionnaires from 797 different legislators across the six waves, permitting longitudinal analysis of ideological self-images, attitudes toward political institutions, views on democratization and authoritarian legacies, and major public policy questions faced in the first 25 years of Brazilian democracy. After reviewing design and execution issues of the survey, the paper proceeds to analysis of the so-called individualistic or anti-institutional tendencies of Brazilian politicians; i.e., their reluctance to accept strong institutions (particularly party organizations and electoral laws) that would restrict their autonomy as free agents. The paper illustrates a contradiction between, on the one hand, the growing recognition by politicians of the importance of political parties and electoral reform, and on the other, their reluctance to change the rules of the game.
