Brazil

Question 1

Independence and empire

Answer 1

III. Empire (1822-1889);
|
|—>Pedro I declares independence (1822);
|—> Authoritarian constitution under “enlightened” monarch against slavery (1824);
|—> Abolition of slavery under growing influence of a republican elite vs. land owners (1888);
|—> Coup against Pedro II (1889);
|
IV. First Republic - mirroring US Constitution but strong control of oligarchs (1889-1930);

Question 2

Portuguese colonization

Answer 2

—> Portugal claims Brazil as exploitation colony (1500);
|—> Super age: many indigenous people die from imported diseases in the trade of slaves
| and 3/4 million slaves are shipped to Brazil (1550-1830);
|—> Napoleon invades Iberia and the Portuguese King moves to Brazil
(1807);
|
II. Foundation of the kingdom of Brazil, linked to the Portuguese
Monarchy (1815);

Question 3

Series of regimes

Answer 3

 1889-1930 first republic: US constitution, oligarchic system
 1930-1945 Getulio Vargas establishes authoritarian Estado Novo regime
* Having issues with the former plantation owners
 1945-1964 second republic -> military coup
* Bureaucratic regime = allowed for democratic parties, but military kept in power
V. Getúlio Vargas’ establishes authoritarian Estado Novo in the first military coup (1930-1945);
|
|—> Provisional government (1930-1937);
|—> Estado Novo (1937-1945);
|
VI. Second Military coup (1945)
|
VII. Second Republic (1945-1964);
VIII.Military regime (1964-1985);

Question 4

New republic 1980s transition to democracy

Answer 4

 Abertura: controlled transition from military regime to democratic regime
* Church played big role
 1988 adoption of new constitution
|—> “Abertura” - controlled transition;
|—> Adoption of new constitution (1988);
|—> Collor de Mello presidency - charged with corruption, impeached and resigns (1989-1992);
|—> Constitutional referendum - 86,6% in favour of Brazil being a republic and 69,2% in favour of
| it being a presidential system (1993);
|—> Economic reforms and uptake (1995); 1993 constitutional referendum
* Last cornerstone of transition to democracy, Brazil decided they didn’t want a monarchy with presidential system

Question 5

Region cleavage

Answer 5

 Strongest cleavage in Brazilian politics
 Overlaps with class and race cleavage
 Tensions federal government and states (as in USA)
 Strong regional identifications and decentralized federalism
 50% of wealth is concentrated in the small southern part

Question 6

Class and religion

Answer 6

 Class cleavage is less important despite extreme inequality
- 9th highest level of inequality in the world in 2022 (Luxurious areas vs. Favelas);
- Partly politicised through leftist and rightists parties;
- But overlapping with and overshadowed by regional cleavages;
 Religion not very important 75% of population is catholic
 Cleavages in general are less important in new democracies such as Brazil
 Church crucial in democratic transition process (kinda more left wing)
* Liberation theology

Question 7

Cleavages race and ethnicity

Answer 7

 People identifying as white live in the southern part
 Mixed people live in the middle and north
 Rainbow nation, lots of people from different heritages
 Race class and affirmative action
- partly overlaps with class and race cleavages

Question 8

President

Answer 8

 Directly elected with VP for 4 year term
 Maximum 2 consecutive terms, but can return
 Appoints cabinet
 Initiates legislation 80% and parliament only 20%
 Veto powers (can be overturned by simple majority)
 Emergency decrees but are limited
impeachment = Chamber of deputy 2/3, senate vote 2/3
|—> 1922 - Collor de Mello resigns before impeachment;
|—> 2016 - Rousseff successfully impeached;

Question 9

Presidential elections

Answer 9

 Two round system (as in France and Russia)
 Simultaneous with parliamentary elections
 Need for political alliances (coalitional presidentialism)
- Every four years;
- Majoritarian run-off (Two rounds);
- Round 1: all candidates (absolute majority wins - if
not, round 2);
- Round 2: two candidates with most votes in round 1
(absolute majority wins);
- Incites electoral alliance in second round (two bloc
system);
- Ticket: president and vice-president;

Question 10

Chamber of deputies - Congress

Answer 10

 513 members, elected for 4 year terms
 Less powerful than constitution suggests
 Presidents party needs to form a coalition with lots of different parties
 State districts elect members to lower house, each districts elects a different number of people
- Introduces and passes legislation;
- Highly fragmented;

Question 11

Chamber of deputies elections

Answer 11

 Open list pr system
 Voting for candidate, not party
 Districts = states (8-70 seats)
 No electoral threshold
 Voting is compulsory
All seats are elected every four years;
- Open-list PR system;
|—> Voting for a candidate, not party;
|—> Seats are distributed proportionally across parties;
|—> Candidates with most votes take their party’s seats;
- District - states (8-70 seats);

Resulting in - extreme fragmentation - weak party discipline - regional identity trumps party identity - Clientelistic practices - Pork-barrel politics and recurrent splitting and switching

Question 12

Federal senate

Answer 12

 81 members, elected for 8 year terms, staggered elections
* Confirming high presidential appointments(e.g. when president appoints ministers)
- Introduces and passes legislation;
- Also significantly fragmented;

Question 13

Coalitional presidentialism

Answer 13

 Presidents never have parliamentary majority
 Depend on broad coalition of parties in parliament
 Advocates: need for big coalitions, consensual politics, stability
 In practice, presidents have to allocate resources to supporting parties

Question 14

Effects coalitional presidentialism

Answer 14

• Weakens the independent functioning of parliament
• Eradicates programmatic links between politicians and voters
• Produces a lack of accountability and bad governance
• Creates interest group dominance and corruption
• “corruption, rent-seeking and fundamentally flawed ways of conducting political business are integral…”

Question 15

Federalism and local government

Answer 15

 Symmetric, robust federalism but no clear division of tasks
 26 states and 1 federal district with elected governors and legislatures
 Enhances problems that exist
- 26 states and 1 federal district (Brasilia);
|
|—> Symmetric - same powers for all states;
|—> Competitive - between states and federal levels;
- “Robust” federalism:
- States are politically important;
- Even if nominal powers are limited (and confusing);
|
|—> Reserved federal matters - defense, currency, minerals, etc.
|—> Joint powers: health, culture;
|—> Concurrent powers: health, culture;
|—> Residual powers: state competences;
- Adopted in reaction to centralist empire;
- Frequent of clientelism and corruption;

Question 16

Political parties PT

Answer 16

• Social democracy
• Decreasing inequality
• Agrarian reform
• Participatory democracy

Question 17

Contributing factors to clientelism and corruption

Answer 17

• Historical colonialism and oligarchy, clientelism was already present on plantations in combination with oligarchy
• Coalitional presidentialism
• Weakness of ideologies, parties
• Federalism and decentralization
• Extreme inequality, poverty, and affirmative action (Bolsa Famillia)

Question 18

2018 election of the century

Answer 18

 Bolsonaro rose because he distanced himself from the entire corrupt class and would tackle corruption, gang violence and crime
 Former president Lula banned from run by superior electoral court
* PT nominates less charismatic Fernando Haddad as candidate
 Jair Bolsonaro: against corruption, against elites, against system
 But also: xenophobic, homophobic, ultranationalist and supportive of former military regime
 One month before election he got stabbed which propelled his victory

Question 19

2018-2022 Bolsonaro presidency

Answer 19

 Extreme polarization (see second republic and USA)
 Attacks on civil liberties (media freedom LGBT rights)
 Enduring corruption scandals, also involving Bolsonaro’s family
 Open questioning of democracy and coup threats
 Freedomhouse decline 79>75
but = * Rigid constitution, powerful checks and balances (esp. supreme court)
* System of coalitional presidentialism hielp om zijn extreemste wetten tegen te houden

Question 20

Why got Bolsonaro kicked out of office?

Answer 20

 Inadequate maatregelen corona
 Deforestation of the amazon

Question 21

Lula’s second act

Answer 21

 Extremely polarized political context
 Image of Lula tarnished (corruption)
 Right wing congress
 Economic stagnation

Question 22

Political parties center PSDB

Answer 22

Centrist but diverse ideologies

Question 23

political parties center

Answer 23

brazilian democratic movement MDB, quite clientelist party

Question 24

Political parties right

Answer 24

Brazil union
LIberal conservatism
Bolsonaro left this party

Question 25

Political parties far right

Answer 25

Liberal party (PL)
Joined by bolsonaro in 2021
o Conservatism
o Nationalism
o Far-right populism

Question 26

Voorkennis

Answer 26

Brazil is the 5th biggest country in the world, but it is highly unurbanized due to
the Amazon forest. It is also the 8th largest economy in the world, even though
it has a history of extreme poverty and inequalities.

Question 27

Regional cleavages

Answer 27

• Strongest cleavage in Brazilian politics;
• Strong regional identifications and federalism;
• Tensions federal government and states (as in U.S.);
• Partly overlap with class and race cleavages;

Question 28

Presidentialism and federalism

Answer 28

• Analogies with U.S. Presidentalism;
  |
  |—> Directly elected president;
  |—> Directly elected bicameral parliament;
  |—> Independent judiciary;
  |—> Separation of powers;
• Differences with the U.S.;
  |
  |—> Additional constitutional checks;
  |—> Electoral systems (President: two-round; Chamber: open-list PR);
• Strongly decentralised federation;

Question 29

Judiciary

Answer 29

• Federal court system;
• Predominantly based on codified law;
• Supreme Court - 11 justices nominated by the president and approved by the senate for 30
  years (and have to retire at 75);
• Supreme electoral court (ensure fairness of campaigns and elections);

Question 30

Senate elections

Answer 30

• In years with one candidate per state (1/3 of senate);
  |—> SMD/FPTP system (as for U.S. Senate);
  |—> Voters cast one vote and who obtains most is elected;
• In years with two candidates per state (2/3 of senate);
  |—> Plurality block voting;
  |—> Voters cast two votes (for two different candidates) and the two
  with most votes are elected;
• Similar (albeit slightly lower) degree of fragmentation;

Question 31

Economic decline and corruption

Answer 31

• 2013-2016: GDP drop of 6,9% – rise in violence and crime.
• 2014-2015: Petrobras, Odebrecht and Lava Jato corruption scandal “The largest corruption
  scandal ever in a democratic nation”.
• 2016: President Rousseff impeached Vice-president Temer takes over.
• 2017: New corruption scandal involving Temer and 352 of 594 MPs.
• This led to a huge decline in the trust in politics (only 6% of parties trust the political parties);

Question 32

Democratic backsliding

Answer 32

• Extreme polarisation - let the military in the past to step in;
• Attacks on civil liberties;
• Enduring corruption scandals (also involving Bolsonaro’s family);
• Open questioning of democracy;
• Coup threats;
  |
  |—STILL—> Rigid checks and balances and coalitional presidentalism;

Question 33

Indigenous victimisation

Answer 33

Different forms of violation:
- Direct —> expulsion/land destruction (right wing - Temer and Bolsonaro);
- Cultural —> discourses against them (right wing - Temer and Bolsonaro);
- Structural —> omission of protection (left wing - da Silva and Rousseff);