Castilhism

[1][2] Castilhism's characteristics were: the centralization of powers in the Executive, the implementation of mechanisms for direct participation, such as plebiscites, the establishment of a modernizing, interventionist and regulating state in the economy, as well as its intermediary and moralizing role in society.

The behavior would be institutionalized by Borges de Medeiros, who introduced the concept of successive re-elections until he led the state into civil war in the early 1920s, demanding the intervention of the federal government and the reform of the 1926 Constitution.

[1] Castilhos wanted to promote the belief that the political-constitutional organization he was developing for Rio Grande do Sul would establish a "regime of virtue", in which the people capable of governing would not necessarily be those elected to the position, but those who demonstrated their "purity of intent" and personal disinterest in favour of the public good.

While in liberal philosophy the public good was reached by conciliating individual interests, for Castilhos it could only be accomplished by achieving the essential core of the ideal society, which he understood in terms of the "reign of virtue".

For him, the public good involved an enlightened ruler who strengthened the state to the detriment of selfish individual interests and who ensured the civic education of citizens, the origin of all social morality.

The victory of Castilhos' pica-paus over Silveira Martins' maragatos gave a strong incentive to Castilhism, which remained the hegemonic force in Rio Grande do Sul uninterruptedly between 1893 and 1937.

[10][11] Originally with a limited reach, the castilhistas expanded their influence to a national level, projecting names such as Pinheiro Machado, Borges de Medeiros, Flores da Cunha, Lindolfo Collor, Góis Monteiro, Oswaldo Aranha and Getúlio Vargas.