Brazil’s New Direction
نویسندگان
چکیده
On 27 October 2002, the voters of Brazil chose Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party (PT) to be their next president, giving him a wide margin of victory with 61.3 percent in a two-candidate runoff against José Serra of the Social Democratic Party (PDSB). Does the election—on his fourth try—of this lathe operator turned trade union leader and the ascendance of his leftist party signal a historic shift in Brazilian politics? What are the implications of a Lula presidency for democracy in Brazil, and what is the larger situation of that democracy now? Should 2002 be seen as marking a new era in Brazilian politics? Is it the start of a period in which a programmatic leftist party that has championed popular participation, accountability, and redistributive change supplants the political clientelism, social elitism, and technocratic policy making for which Brazil is known? Or is it wiser to focus on the pragmatic adjustments that the PT has made, the continuing sway of conservative forces, and the multitude of constraints—political and economic, domestic and international—that will hem in efforts to make major changes? On the one hand, the election of a candidate who is a true outsider is a dramatic break with the pattern of Brazilian politics since the postauthoritarian period began in 1985. President José Sarney (1985– 90), who inaugurated the civilian regime, had been a leading member of the official government party under the military regime that ruled from 1964 to 1985. His successor, the disgraced Fernando Collor de Mello (1990–92), had similar political origins. After serving as an opposition Wendy Hunter is associate professor of government at the University of Texas–Austin. Her current research investigates the effects of democratization, economic globalization, and international diffusion on decisions that affect social policy and human capital formation in Latin America.
منابع مشابه
Understanding Brazil’s new drive for Africa
Following a period of some distancing through the 1980s and 1990s, Brazil has made a concerted effort to engage with Africa. Today, under the leadership of President Lula, Africa is clearly a priority, especially as Brazil emerges as a global economic power and leader of the developing South. Yet, relatively little is written of Brazil’s engagement with Africa and the rationale behind the polit...
متن کاملThe importance of being earners: the democratic, institutional and socio-political influence of Brazil’s elite
This article considers the elite in Brazilian society as a core feature of political culture and examines its involvement in the development of democracy in post authoritarian Brazil from a socio-political and institutional point of view. Brazil’s elite have been criticized as having an ambiguous attitude towards democracy. Some scholars have suggested that Brazil’s elite exhibit no discernible...
متن کاملHealing Brazil's Blue Amazon: The Role of Knowledge Networks in Nurturing Cross-Scale Transformations at the Frontlines of Ocean Sustainability
Citation: Gerhardinger LC, Gorris P, Gonçalves LR, Herbst DF, Vila-Nova DA, De Carvalho FG, Glaser M, Zondervan R and Glavovic BC (2018) Healing Brazil’s Blue Amazon: The Role of Knowledge Networks in Nurturing Cross-Scale Transformations at the Frontlines of Ocean Sustainability. Front. Mar. Sci. 4:395. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2017.00395 Healing Brazil’s Blue Amazon: The Role of Knowledge Networks ...
متن کاملIs There a Brazilian Model of Development? Are there lessons for countries in Africa?
Brazil recently overtook the UK as the sixth largest economy, a measure of the strong economic growth experienced since 2003. Growth has been intensely propoor, and both poverty and inequality have declined significantly in the last decade. What explains the unexpected success shown by Brazil in combining sustained economic growth with a reduction in poverty and inequality? Some researchers sug...
متن کاملNew Species of Canthonella Chapin (scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from Amazonian Brazil
Canthonella amazonica and C. leptoculata, new species of canthonine dung beetles, are described from Brazil’s central Amazon region. A new key to the eight species that occur in South America is provided.
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
دوره شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2003