—Jairo Lima, Universidade Estadual do Norte do Paraná Among the many impacts the COVID-19 epidemic has had on political and constitutional activity worldwide, the postponement or cancellation of elections has been one of the key issues. According to data from the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, an institution that monitors electoral processes in the
“Constitutional Dismemberment” and Strategic Deconstitutionalization in Times of Crisis: Beyond Emergency Powers
—Cristiano Paixão & Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, University of Brasília It could not be otherwise: Covid-19 is the topic of the moment in constitutional law. A series of debates over the impacts of this external factor on the functioning of democratic or authoritarian states, the leadership or not of their respective governments to face such severe
Bolsonarism and COVID-19: Truth Strikes Back
—Thomas da Rosa de Bustamante & Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Federal University of Minas Gerais and Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) In response to the personal offenses and criticism of her critically acclaimed documentary “The Edge of Democracy”, in comments by President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa published an opinion
Bolsonaro’s First Year: Trying to Erode Democracy
—Antonio Moreira Maués, Federal University of Pará The first year of the Bolsonaro government had poor results in the economy and was marked by a high degree of political instability. Although he managed to approve pension reform, Bolsonaro does not have a stable parliamentary base in the National Congress[1] and has also lost a
The Party Fragmentation Paradox in Brazil: A Shield Against Authoritarianism?
—Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, University of Brasília and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development Brazil features possibly the most fragmented party system in the world. At this current legislative term, there are 25 parties with representation in the Lower House, and 16 in the Senate. The level of fragmentation is so steep that the biggest
Bolsonaro’s Attacks on Brazilian Environmental Agencies: When “Money Talks” May Have the Last Word
—Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, University of Brasília Brazil’s environmental protection going downhill has been recently highlighted by major newspapers. The Economist, on its first cover of August, featured the following headline: “Deathwatch for the Amazon: The Threat of Runaway Deforestation”. The New York Times, just a few days before, published the report “Under Brazil’s Far-Right Leader,
The Chief Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court: Institutional and Constitutional Self-Destruction
—Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer & Thomas da Rosa de Bustamante, Federal University of Minas Gerais and Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) The emergence of undemocratic political practices in Brazil, at least from the point of view of the executive branch, has become a general concern. One specific behavior that has attracted
Bolsonaro’s Unconstitutional Support for the Brazilian Civil-Military Dictatorship of 1964-1985
—Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, Federal University of Minas Gerais and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development;Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, University of Brasília and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development Jair Bolsonaro was recently elected in an election tainted, particularly, by his long-held defense of the Brazilian dictatorship of 1964-1985. Once he took office, despite
Brazil’s New Government: Risks to Constitutional Democracy
–Antonio Moreira Maués, Federal University of Pará With the election of Jair Bolsonaro as President, Brazil definitively joined the list of countries in which constitutional democracy is in danger. Although the 1988 Constitution had marked the transition to democracy, and had functioned decently for over two decades, the system has been under serious strain since
Brazil’s “False Consciousness of Time”: The Rise of Jair Bolsonaro
—Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, University of Brasília and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development Guy Debord, the radical French philosopher whose words impacted the world during the protests of May 1968, once wrote: “The spectacle, considered as the reigning society’s method for paralyzing history and memory and for suppressing any history based on historical time, represents
