114 opinion article | artigo de opinião

Towards the reconstruction of democracy in

Brazil
Da ruptura à reconstrução democrática no Brasil

Fabiano Santos1, José Szwako2

ABSTRACT The article argues that the impeachment occurred in Brazil in 2016 configures a
political crisis. Among other factors, the text highlights the politicization of the Judiciary and
the conservative alliance between parties and right-wing social movements. Offering a kind
of democratic reconstruction agenda, we affirm the urgency of a broad-based progressive co-
alition to contain the advance of setbacks in Brazil today. In such a coalition, it is fudamental
the hability for the inclusion of diverse social cleavages, democratic voices and multiple social
classes.

KEYWORDS Politics. Democracy. Public policy.

RESUMO O artigo defende que o impeachment ocorrido no País em 2016 não representa uma
crise institucional, mas uma crise política. Foi a ação coordenada de atores, e não nosso modelo
institucional, que levou à ruptura democrática. Dentre outros fatores, o texto destaca a politiza-
ção do Judiciário e a aliança entre partidos e movimentos sociais conservadores. Ao fim, mirando
numa agenda de reconstrução, afirma-se a urgência de uma ampla coalizão de corte progres-
sista para conter o avanço dos retrocessos hoje em curso no Brasil. Em tal coalizão, é central a
capacidade de abertura e articulação com e entre clivagens sociais diversas, vozes democráticas
e múltiplas frações de classe.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE Política. Democracia. Política social.

1 Universidade Estadual
do Rio de Janeiro (Uerj),
Instituto de Estudos Sociais
e Políticos (Iesp) – Rio de
Janeiro (RJ), Brasil.
fsantos@iesp.uerj.br

2 Universidade Estadual

do Rio de Janeiro (Uerj),

Instituto de Estudos Sociais
e Políticos (Iesp) – Rio de
Janeiro (RJ), Brasil.
zeszwako@iesp.uerj.br

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 Towards the reconstruction of democracy in Brazil 115

The ingredients that characterize the the logic of rupturing the established politi-
Brazilian socio-political framework are of cal agreement, whose rules the majority of
various kinds: social and ideological polar- the right-wing partisan used to agree, at least
ization, popular and student mobilization, publicly, since the years 1990, and, conse-
political crisis, fiscal crisis, acute reces- quently, fights for political power in a legiti-
sion and mass unemployment, electoral mate way. The rupture carried out by means
dispute and reconfiguration, oligopolized of an impeachment leastly artful, a rupture
media with increasingly affiliation to politi- carried out by means of the insidious use of
cal parties and aligned to specific sectors of our institutions, places once again the col-
the power structure, growing fascism of our lective task of democratic reconstruction in
political culture elements, itself historically the troublesome Brazilian political history.
illiberal, judicial institutional anomie and Parliamentary coup, there is no doubt
partisan ploys fit together forming a scenar- about it, but what matters now is thinking on
io unthinkable until few years ago. how we arrived here. We will follow by parts.
As for this conjuncture analysis, let us Let us first deal with the congressional
dwell on some of those points, highlighting arena and with the so-called crisis of repre-
whether and how, in our view, they are mu- sentativeness. At once, it is relevant to affirm
tually reinforcing. Far from trying to exhaust that the August 2016 event is the result of
each of those ingredients, further analysis the deliberate action committed by political
are suggested to explore the issue on how leaders that did not configurate, definitely,
such and several other variables interact in the operation effect of the institutions. It is
order to produce this kind of semi chaotic obviously tempting to identify in the politi-
scenario. For example: to what extent both cal institutions, particularly in the core rules
the global economic crisis and our fiscal that define our political model, the causes of
crisis impacted on the recent polarization instability and governability crisis that ended
in Brazil? How to measure the influence, up in the parliamentary coup. The concept
for the success of the parliamentary coup, of and practice of coalition presidentialism, in
the ongoing crisis feeding by a media clearly a broader and less rigorous definition, return
party-biased? And returning a bit more back- with full force to the scene, as it became
wards: what is the relation, if any, between common to account that institutional model
the 2013 cycle of protests and the parliamen- for an extraordinary set of evils of which the
tary coup? Brazilian policy would suffer. We talk about
Within the limits of our interpretation, we broader definition, because, in fact, the term
will discuss the parliamentary coup carried coalition presidentialism, in a more restricted
out by the unified front of the Brazilian understanding, and in our view more precise,
Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), in the as it is applied in the stricto sensu institution-
light of tensions between actors (political or alist literature, only denotes the conjugation
social ones), and the institutional arrange- of powers separation, characteristic of the
ments in which they operate. The analy- multiparty presidential system commonly
sis focuses on three arenas: the National derived from the adoption of proportional
Congress, the Legal power and the civil representation for the occupation of seats in
society. Before moving on to such arenas, the Legislative power.
it is central to establish the premise from Those who criticize our institutional
which we set out, already displayed in the model, called coalition presidentialism,
article initial issues: what happens in the establish some kind of wrong causal link
current Brazilian policy is the continuation between the dynamics of such model and the
of a parliamentary coup. In other words, it is political practice that not only undermines,

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 116 SANTOS, F.; SZWAKO, J.

let say, the programmatic principles of as opponent to PT in the government but

parties that lead the government coalition also self-styled ‘conservative’, either in
but also, at the end, harms the legitimacy relation to social policies or to culturally
of the institutional system as a whole. Well, delicate themes of public agenda. Note that
as for our point of view, and following more the faction was led by politicians willing to
recent analyses on coalition presidentialism everything in order to reverse the election
(FREITAS, 2016), nothing would authorize, either results concerning the national Executive
from a conceptual or an empirical perspec- that same year.
tive, to account the model for admittedly bad A relevant issue, and for which a final
political and complex phenomena, such as answer is not prompt, regards to know: after
corruption, popular disbelief and profusion all, what reasons led parties such as PMDB,
of scandals mediatically appropriated and PSDB and Democrats (DEM), co-founders
often produced. and protagonists of the 1987 Constituent
Here it is essential to discern between two Assembly, of our democratization, to clearly
elements that are often overlaid in policy act against the dictates and rules of the
analysis: actors and institutions. Although democratic game? A complex set of factors
in an empirical way and in all cases it be created a real window of opportunity for
difficult to identify where one or the other the adventure of coup candidates. Among
prevails in the unfolding of the political such factors, we would highlight: a) an acute
situation, it is not possible to infer the le- economic crisis scenario, reinforced by the
gitimacy or efficiency of institutions based explicit opposition of international finan-
on the use they are made by main actors on cial incumbents vis-à-vis Dilma Rousseff’
the scene. According to our assessment, the re-election; b) the heavy inheritance of the
Brazilian recent example shows exactly this: competitive and radicalized 2014 election
since the end of 2014, at every step in the campaign; c) the recent memory of the 2013
situation and as economic and social crises cycle of protests – since then, the radicaliza-
deepened, boards of PMDB and Brazilian tion of the right-wing behavior in 2015; d)
Social Democracy Party (PSDB) articulated the lack of a clear and strategic government
themselves and applied the rules of the game vision also to tackle the most urgent causes
in order to build the optimal conditions for of the economic crisis as to organize its leg-
the achievement of the parliamentary coup islative and society support. All those factors
that resulted in the impeachment. Nothing are not an ‘institutional’ heritage, but, rather,
inherent to the Brazilian institutional design approved and to some extent produced by
would predict such destabilizing behav- actors until recently committed to a demo-
ior, since the result of that year elections, cratic creed. None of this, therefore, autho-
adopted by an opposition so far loyal to rizes or even justifies taking such factors as
democracy and by leaders of a party so far expression of a need or historic fatality since
acting as coalition partner. it was a concerted and articulated action,
Specifically regarding PMDB, the princi- what the sociologists call ‘agency’ between
pal coalition partner of Workers Party (PT) parties – social movements of elitist shape
since at least a decade, it is worth mentioning and mediatic and judiciary supporters, cul-
that, in the context of the 2014 election, the minating in the impeachment. Despite well
party had already been divided even before seen, the process is not sustained on struc-
Roussef’ positive result after the second tural-institutional roots.
round of presidential elections. That is, the This process was leveraged by actors,
winner faction, mainly in the Legislature where institutional devices accounting for
power, stood openly in the field not only its blocking were or should be, in order to

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 Towards the reconstruction of democracy in Brazil 117

safeguard the spirit of presidentialism? In of citizenship in General (i.e., not necessar-

our view, the 1988 constitutional design is ily organized in networks and movements),
clear when it indicates the Supreme Court state porosity related to the citizen possibili-
(STF) as the guardian of the minimal and ties of access to goods has shown itself not
fundamental precepts of what is permit- only mediated by participatory mechanisms
ted to the political action. That is, if there but also consistently greater than countries
was any chance to curb the opposition in its such as Venezuela and Mexico (ZAREMBERG,
coup adventure and in a correlation of forces 2012). In short, as for the plural characteris-
clearly unfavorable to the President elected, tic of representation, the most up-to-date
such a chance would come from the Legal research agenda on the participation institu-
Power. However, the latter, in fact, in an in- tionalizing effects denotes not a limitation,
stitutional crisis due to its high politicization but, rather, the question about the effective-
and partidarization character, did not behave ness of participatory institutions in Brazil
as predicted in the Constitutional Charter. Is (PIRES, 2011).
it another case of misuse? Certainly yes. This We understand as spurious the inference
time the misuse does not come in form of built between institutional model and politi-
action but by default. cal outcome, between coalition presidential-
An alternative label for what has taken ism and the 2016 parliamentary coup. From
place in the Brazilian politics is merged with our standpoint, there is nothing conclusive
an alleged crisis of representation. It is unde- either around the diagnosis of institutional
niable the dissatisfaction of significant part of corrosion inherent to the coalition presiden-
legal, mediatic, and business elites and of im- tialism and supposedly produced by it, or a
portant sectors of middle classes concerning timely diagnosis created to legitimate the
central landmarks of democracy, as enshrined parliamentary coup versions, or regarding
in the 1988 Constitution. However, concomi- the existence of a representation crisis that
tantly to the expression of such feelings, the impacts the Brazilian institutional politi-
broadening and pluralization of the represen- cal framework. Therefore, it seems central
tation ability external to Congress, but that to distinguishing between operating logics:
internalizes itself within the Brazilian State, the internal logic regarding Dilma Rousseff’
is being highlighted in several works related impeachment does not result from institu-
to the State/society (inter alia) interactions tional dynamics, but from the articulated
(POGREBINSCHI; SANTOS, 2012; AVRITZER; SOUZA, 2013; and deliberated acting of political-party and
GURZA LAVALLE; SZWAKO, 2015). legal power actors (below) – it is a perfor-
It should be noted, moreover, that the in- mance undoubtedly articulated by means of
clusion of themes and actors of civil society institutions and even in spite of them, hence
in decision-making processes eventually the innovative nature of that kind of coup.
became important target of criticism and This differentiation is key to our diagnosis,
resistance from conservative segments in because the medium-and long-term scenari-
the Country, as was the case of the so-called os of democratic reconstruction will require
‘National System of Social Participation’ anti-coup remedies, and we cannot run the
(GURZA LAVALLE; SZWAKO, 2014). The limits imposed risk of testing a bitter or even fatal remedy.
to impacts of social-and-estate meetings on Example of the danger embedded in ill-
public policy, however, did not lessen the conceived institutional solutions based on
diagnosis that, since re-democratization, pre-notions without academic support is
they have become increasingly challenged in the proposals put forth in times of crisis.
and modified by civil society organizations For example, the disastrous electoral mini-
and movements. Even from the standpoint reform carried out by Cunha, Maia and

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 118 SANTOS, F.; SZWAKO, J.

their followers, and the effects then arising Power, before organisms of the Executive
on the 2016 electoral dispute, particularly and Legislative Powers leads us straight to
about the television time destined to smaller the essential alert given by Max Weber (1993)
parties and to debates between parties and and his Weimar Republic contemporaries:
candidates. Pernicious effects may also rest the public officer cannot be involved in po-
on the political system in case current pro- litical dispute or its respective conviction.
posals circulating in Congress and media Public officer and professional politician
win, advocating, for example, the adoption competences are as distinct as are the re-
of optional vote. Far from healing alleged sponsibilities assigned for each post. Weber’
institutional illnesses, false medicines as one of the greatest fears was that his country
those tend to harm our governance and politics became a hostage of the bureaucracy
representativeness. – that lesson cannot be overlooked today by
As we said before, the political crisis that those who, like us, understand the harmful
ended up in a coup and now takes on new potential contained in an instance of power
shape does not result from the functioning that, in the name of fighting corruption, acts
of institutions, but from their usurpation and illegally.
misuse by means of fundamental segments Ironically, although we speak of our po-
of elites and State leaders. litical model institutional crisis, it does not
Among the State elites starring that emerge from the coalition presidentialism.
process, stand out, with no doubt, the elites In fact, serious distortions hit the own design
of the Legal Power and of the Federal Public of our control institutions, disrespecting the
Prosecutor (MPF), whose behavior during 1988 Constitution. In this particular, recent
the whole process occurred, as we all know, interventions by the Superior Electoral Court
covered-up by the mantle of the political (TSE), for example, on electoral and party
corruption combating. In a shrewd analysis, rules as well as on selective and partidar-
Leonardo Avritzer already called our atten- ian attacks guided by MPF against political
tion to the dangers of the MPF uncontrolled leaders reverberate one of the most famous
action and its implications in terms of ‘en- Madisonians concerns: who controls the con-
croachment’ and ‘monopolization’ of the trollers? The administrative intervention on
public interest protection coming from such the political dispute requires not only its the-
behavior by institutions deprived from vote oretical criticism. Rather, it requires the po-
endorsement. In the author’ words: litical action from whom that, after all, is the
main affected by the instability of the demo-
[...] the way, in 2015 first semester, the Le- cratic game – instability judicially instilled –,
gal Power entrenched the Executive Power and also the only sovereign of that same game:
for questionable political practices, such as the popular will. In this sense, two necessary
the selective leaking of information regard- and converged paths for the pacification of
ing Lava Jato Operation and the excess of the Legal Power and the Executive Power
preventive arrests and of delations intended control instances seem to be the deepening
to destabilize politics, shows the danger of a of control mechanisms both institutionalized
solution for the impasses not processed by and external to those institutions.
the powers elected by popular vote. (AVRITZER, The task is not going to be an easy one, as
2016, p. 116). was not the democratization consecrated in
the 1988 Charter. The first challenge surely
Such an intervention, politicized and involves the responsibility of actors that
spurious, of agents and control institutions, destabilized and usurped the democratic
whether or not pertaining to the Legal dynamics conquered until today. In terms

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 Towards the reconstruction of democracy in Brazil 119

of political and institutional dispute, masks ‘liberal’ label – actually, it contains few lib-
of actors who advocate a reheated scholarly eralism and some distorted reading of the
liberalism, or solely a neoliberal one, should so-called neoliberalism. On the other hand,
be recognized as such. In terms of politi- politicians and mottos that consider them-
cal culture, the phenomenon is even more selves right-wing but that end up removing
complex: the middle class growing fascism, legitimacy from that mass stimulated by
fueled not only by the economic crisis but themselves. Well, they, and no other, were
also by the Legal Power and hegemonic the so-called ‘voice of the streets’ heard
media, is the reality we deem essential to and listened in the statements that buried
know and oppose. Our last item concerns the Dilma’ government in August 2016. Let us
growing fascism among us and the civil mo- remember that ‘in the name of the family’,
bilizations coming from both the right-wing ‘God’ and even ‘against the communism’ (sic)
as the left one. were allegories circulating among the streets
In the field of civil society, the context and within the Congress, designing most of
is equal or even more complex and full of pro-impeachment speeches. The affinity
challenges. between the represented and representatives
The green and yellow mobilization ‘of the’ right-wing is, however, contingent
winning the streets in March, April and and strategic; to the extent that they answer
August 2015 knew how to appropriate one to their interests, political parties will con-
of the 2013 main legacies: the street as le- tinue taking advantage of the mass, always
gitimate stage of protests (DOWBOR and SZWAKO, in an opportunistic manner. Here, the demo-
2013). Under the cries of ‘Dilma Out’ and ‘PT cratic reconstruction challenge is twofold: to
Out’, a mass of fascist verve was fueled by build a civilized alternative to the conserva-
right-wing movements, which, as we know tive project prevailing in the Country and to
today, were and still are linked to ultra-con- fight for broader social and electoral bases,
servative north-american groups. A question being and alternative for both.
arises here: why call fascist such vast and Today, while the streets are back to protest
heterogeneous crowds? We call them as such against the current illegitimate government,
due to their inability to recognize as legiti- the stage of claims is taken by high school
mate a plurality of interests and world views students and by school interdiction through-
that are constitutive and, mainly, distinctive out Brazil. Despite variations among states,
of democracy in complex societies. Denying the interdiction movement of schools is en-
such plurality corresponds to, in the 2015 tirely crossed by the parliamentary coup and
conservative speeches and protests analyzed its effects, namely, the 241 PEC (Proposal
elsewhere (SZWAKO, 2015), denying the legiti- of Constitutional Amendment), currently
macy of the conflict and the necessary insti- renumbered PEC 55/16. The post coup dy-
tutionalization of conflicts – without which namics of tension and of conflict between
there is no democratic and civilized coexis- mobilized citizenship and authorities, being
tence between various and divergent world them executive or repressive forces, actually,
interests and views. bestows a sad feeling of authoritarian déjà
It is exactly at that point that ideological vu to the situation. This can be observed by
polarization and partisan strategies articu- cops’ harassment of students, often illegal, as
late. On one hand, a new right, authoritar- well as by the activities of citizens self-called
ian, provides original clothing to the always ‘good’, handling conflicts in school prem-
predominant hierarchical rancidness, not ises. However, the authoritarian rancidness
in politics, not solely in politics, but also in is not limited to the example of students
the Brazilian society, now redesigned with and of reforms and tax cuts without any

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 120 SANTOS, F.; SZWAKO, J.

consultation to interested parties. Another sense of timing and openness towards the
dramatic case of truculence and illegality spirit of inclusion and understanding. Such
applied by repressive forces in the post-coup unification, in turn, cannot prescind from in-
context is the violence suffered by Florestan stitutional arrangements within which par-
Fernandes School, addressed to the Landless ticipation and representation may combine
Workers Movement (MST); it was invaded a and balance – including all the partisan con-
few days ago by police officers working for flicts there arising. In that effort, it is essen-
the State of São Paulo in Brazil. tial to add up all the nuances of democratic
However, that déjà vu is ambivalent. voices compromised with minimally civi-
While it authorizes a desolate look on our lized and egalitarian values: from a broaden-
scenario, those scenes also evoke traces of ing ‘big centre’, mainstay of the Brazilian
political hope in the student mobilization as re-democratization, to radical voices, and
in landless workers. necessarily involving liberals, communists
Moderating the Legal Power, democra- and social democrats. An arc of polyclassist
tizing media, blaming those who violated alliances of democratic color, tacking periph-
the democratic pact and restraining the ad- eries, middle classes and a non-conservative
vances of a regressive illegitimate agenda liberal business community is fundamental
are some of these challenges. The feasible for that project. Against that necessarily
path to agglutinate characters, speeches and heterogeneous set of voices, the emergence
flags is located in the overcoming of what J. of an authoritarian conservative wave or of
Feres Júnior called ‘belly button complex’. a new crypto-militarist right-wing will keep
Democratic left-wing forces, also within the endeavor of winning the political fight
the civil scope as in the partisan struggle, against truculence and intimidation – there
need to overcome ideological isolated per- is need to face fear. One of the good strate-
fectionisms obstacling the construction and gies to face fear is searching for elements
broadening of new comprehensive consen- and tracks of democratic coexistence even
sus. Those consensuses necessarily imply within the reactionarism.
dialogues and bridges not yet accomplished, The reconstruction is difficult, although
they need firstly to be forged with the due inevitable. s

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 Towards the reconstruction of democracy in Brazil 121

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Received for publication: November, 2016

______. Sociedade civil, Estado e autonomia: Final version: December, 2016
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