January 2023, Volume 34, Issue 1
Lula’s Second Act
Brazil’s charismatic former president is back, but there will be no honeymoon for the left. He won by a sliver, and his opponents on the right were empowered by the same election.
Country: Brazil
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: When Does Competitive Authoritarianism Take Root?
It is not easy to build a stable hybrid regime. Elected autocrats may try, but comparing Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela shows how difficult it is to succeed.
July 2021, Volume 32, Issue 3
Latin America Erupts: The Danger of Democratic Delinquency
Recent high-profile scandals have laid bare persistent shortcomings of Latin American democracy that, if unaddressed, could prove fatal.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
The Americas: When Do Voters Support Power Grabs?
Recent survey research suggests that most voters disapprove of antidemocratic acts by elected leaders. Yet there are critical exceptions when a significant minority of voters are sympathetic to or even supportive of violations of democratic laws and norms.
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
Covid vs. Democracy: Brazil’s Populist Playbook
By highlighting the deficiencies of authoritarian-populist president Jair Bolsonaro’s rule, the covid-19 pandemic is likely to leave Brazil’s democracy intact but even more brittle.
October 2020, Volume 31, Issue 4
The Return of the Latin American Military?
When asked by presidents to intervene domestically for crime-fighting or civil-order purposes, Latin American militaries face a number of risks and have a degree of freedom to tailor their responses accordingly.
July 2020, Volume 31, Issue 3
Social Media Disruption: Messaging Mistrust in Latin America
In Latin America, greater exposure to social media—and the digital misinformation that comes with it—seems to be bolstering prodemocratic attitudes even as it fuels public distrust in democratic institutions.
January 2019, Volume 30, Issue 1
Bolsonaro and Brazil’s Illiberal Backlash
The triumph of far-right populist Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s October 2018 presidential election was made possible by a series of economic, social, and political crises that have shaken Brazilian democracy.
April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2
Brazil: The Costs of Multiparty Presidentialism
The massive corruption revealed by Brazil’s “Operation Car Wash” points to fundamental flaws in multiparty presidential systems, where presidents must find ways to build coalitions in fragmented legislatures.
January 2017, Volume 28, Issue 1
Violence Against Women in Politics
The use of force and intimidation against women trying to take part in politics is a growing problem in many places. Such violence assumes a number of different forms, but all aim to keep women as women out of public life.
July 2016, Volume 27, Issue 3
Delegative Democracy Revisited: Brazil’s Accountability Paradox
Latin America’s largest country has managed vastly to enlarge the share of its citizens who can take part in politics and need no longer live in poverty, and has robust horizontal accountability to boot. Vertical accountability, however, has suffered.
April 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2
Latin America’s New Turbulence: Crisis and Integrity in Brazil
Public anger at revelations of widespread corruption, along with the rising cost of coalition politics, has brought Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff to the brink of impeachment. Yet the crisis has also revealed the strength of the country’s law-enforcement and judicial institutions.
October 2011, Volume 22, Issue 4
Do New Democracies Support Democracy? The Multilateral Dimension
When it comes to backing democracy and human rights in international forums, the behavior of the world’s six most influential rising democracies ranges from sympathetic support to borderline hostility.
April 2011, Volume 22, Issue 2
The Politics of Personality in Brazil
Dilma Rousseff won the 2010 presidential election as the handpicked successor of a towering political personality. Now she must assert firm sway over a ruling party and coalition to which she has remarkably slender ties, and face new challenges that her country cannot meet with “more of the same.”
January 2011, Volume 22, Issue 1
Latin America: A Surge to the Center
The left-right ideological divide has begun to narrow in Latin America as citizens and leaders increasingly choose a pragmatic approach to politics and embrace the rules of the democratic game.
April 2008, Volume 19, Issue 2
Politics, Markets, and Society in Lula’s Brazil
Brazil under Lula offers a test case of how politicians and societal interests in developing countries react when economic growth and new possibilities change the name of the game from shock and scarcity to boom and prosperity.
July 2005, Volume 16, Issue 3
Lula’s Brazil at Midterm
Many saw the election of Workers' Party leader Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva to the Brazilian presidency in October 2002 as the beginning of an era. Two years into his first term, Lula has yet to live up to that expectation.
April 2003, Volume 14, Issue 2
Latin America’s Lost Illusions: Brazil’s New Direction
The recent election of political outsider Lula da Silva as president is a sign of hope for the future of democracy in Brazil.
January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1
Democracy as a Starting Point
Democracy by itself does not put an end to injustice or inequality, but it establishes the most favorable conditions for making progress in the struggle to achieve a just society.
July 1999, Volume 10, Issue 3
Latin America’s Imperiled Progress: Cardoso and the Struggle for Reform in Brazil
July 1994, Volume 5, Issue 3
Latin America’s Critical Elections: Brazil at an Impasse
Spring 1990, Volume 1, Issue 2
Brazil’s New Beginning
Winter 1990, Volume 1, Issue 1
Managing the Military
A review of Rethinking Military Politics: Brazil and the Southern Cone, by Alfred Stepan.