Warming Back Up to Democracy? Democratic Thermostatics and Brazil’s 2022 Presidential Election
Posted inInstitutional Politics

Warming Back Up to Democracy? Democratic Thermostatics and Brazil’s 2022 Presidential Election

Latin American presidents get re-elected at extremely high rates. Yet incumbent Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro finds himself in a dogfight against his rival, former president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, in October’s presidential electoral contest. Why? The pandemic, the economy, and environmental policy may be partially to blame. But could...
August 10, 2022Posted inInstitutional, Politics
Posted inInstitutional Politics

Threats to the Freedom of Information Act on its Tenth Birthday

[Today's post is a translation of an op-ed that appeared in the Folha de S. Paulo] Organizational secrecy constitutes the first refuge of corruption, incompetence, and inefficiency. In this sense, perhaps the single most important advantage that democracies have over other forms of government is their ability to limit secrecy...
May 16, 2022Posted inInstitutional, Politics
Bolsonaro’s Increasing Electoral Mischief
Posted inInstitutional Judiciary Politics

Bolsonaro’s Increasing Electoral Mischief

In their influential 2018 book “How Democracies Die” Levitsky and Ziblatt argued that rather than staging an open coup, modern leaders may subvert the democratic process by repeatedly undermining institutions. In the runup to the October election, Bolsonaro appears to be following their script closely, and his electoral mischief continues...
May 11, 2022Posted inInstitutional, Judiciary, Politics1 Comment
Indigenous Peoples: From Sins of Omission to Commission
Posted inEnvironment Institutional Social

Indigenous Peoples: From Sins of Omission to Commission

September was marked by significant protests by indigenous peoples in Brasilia.  In late August, more than six thousand native people descended on the city to accompany a long-awaited decision by the high court, the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), regarding the demarcation of native lands. On September 10, five thousand indigenous women...
October 12, 2021Posted inEnvironment, Institutional, Social
Is There Public Support for the Brazilian Supreme Court in a Time of Crisis?
Posted inInstitutional Judiciary Politics

Is There Public Support for the Brazilian Supreme Court in a Time of Crisis?

The political crisis in Brazil has escalated in recent weeks, and increasingly put the Supreme Court (STF) in the crosshairs of the President. In early August 2021, the Supreme Court (STF) responded to a request by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to investigate Jair Bolsonaro for disseminating fake news about the use...
September 21, 2021Posted inInstitutional, Judiciary, Politics
The Breakneck Dilution of Brazilian Electoral Law
Posted inInstitutional Politics

The Breakneck Dilution of Brazilian Electoral Law

In the midst of all of Bolsonaro’s bombast and bluster this past month, it has been easy to get distracted from other pressing issues. The past few years have brought a number of statutory rollbacks of anticorruption legislation in Brasília. But the brazenness with which a permissive new electoral code...
September 14, 2021Posted inInstitutional, Politics
Event: Legislative Effectiveness in Latin America (Oct. 16)
Posted inInstitutional

Event: Legislative Effectiveness in Latin America (Oct. 16)

You are invited to join CLALS for the first of a two-meeting workshop discussion on legislative effectiveness in Latin America on October 16th, 2020 from 1:30 – 2:30 PM EST. Focusing on the emerging literature on legislative politics in Latin America, presenters will discuss the causes of legislative success in four of the region’s largest...
October 9, 2020Posted inInstitutional