This research seeks to analyze the process that culminated in the founding of the Democratic Labor Party (PDT), in 1980. In this sense, we take as our object of study the party political project led by Leonel Brizola – initially, from exile –, which had the objective of founding a new labor party, and the actions adopted to achieve this end, covering the years between 1977 and 1980. In this way, we will seek to understand the formation of a new party association in the country, analyzing its internal composition, the construction of its program and its presentation to Brazilian society; relating such issues to the situation in Brazil, which was going through a political transition “from above”.