This arti­cle cri­ti­cally exa­mi­nes the recent deba­te on growth models in Com­pa­ra­ti­ve Poli­ti­cal Eco­nomy (CPE). It pro­po­ses a fra­mework that com­bi­nes the strengths of the Growth Model Pers­pec­ti­ve and the sub­se­quent post- Key­ne­si­an cri­ti­cism, arguing for an exten­si­on of Kalecki’s works influ­en­ce on the growth model lite­ra­tu­re. Par­ti­cu­larly, it refers to con­si­de­ring the role played by the dis­tri­bu­ti­ve con­flict within the poli­ti­cal busi­ness cycle, as it impli­es arti­cu­la­ting eco­no­mic and socio-poli­ti­cal deter­mi­nants of growth models under the same the­o­re­ti­cal basis. Focu­sing on Bra­zil’s excep­ti­o­nal redis­tri­bu­ti­ve growth expe­ri­en­ce during the Wor­kers’ Party govern­ments (2003–2016), the arti­cle demons­tra­tes the appli­ca­bi­lity of the Kalec­ki­an- based fra­mework to unders­tand the spe­ci­fi­ci­ti­es of growth models within the bro­a­der con­text of the “Pink Tide” in South Ame­ri­ca. By asses­sing the role of dis­tri­bu­ti­ve con­flict in sha­ping the tra­jec­tory of Bra­zil’s redis­tri­bu­ti­ve growth model, it high­lights the impor­tan­ce of class con­flict in influ­en­cing poli­ti­cal and eco­no­mic out­co­mes. The fin­dings con­tri­bu­te to a more nuan­ced unders­tan­ding of growth models and sug­gest new analy­ti­cal pathways for eva­lu­a­ting simi­lar redis­tri­bu­ti­ve growth models in periphe­ral economies.

Keywords:

Growth models, dis­tri­bu­ti­ve con­flict, Bra­zi­li­an eco­nomy, Pink Tide, Kalecki’s poli­ti­cal busi­ness cycle, com­pa­ra­ti­ve poli­ti­cal economy

JEL:

E02, D30, N10