Contents

Acknowledgements............................................................................................... vii

Introduction.........................................................................................................

I. What Happened to the Brazil that was �Taking Off’?............................ 1

II. The Structure of this Book..................................................................... 7

1. The Conceptual Evolution of the Rule of Law in Brazil........................... 14

I. Introduction: A Prosaic Approach to the Rule of Law......................... 14

II. Democracy and Social Justice in the Core of the Rule

of Law: A Normative Dispute?.................................................................... 19

III. Estado de Direito in Brazil: Between Preservation and Democratisation..... 22

IV Estado de Direito in Brazil: Social Inequality as a Hindrance to Coordination 26

V The Rule of Law and Coordination in Unequal Societies......................... 28

2. The Local Lived Experiences of the Rule of Law in Brazil:

The Impacts of Social Inequality................................................................ 31

I. Introduction: A Persistent Inequality................................................... 31

II. Brazil and its Longstanding Struggle with Social Inequality................ 33

III. Inclusiveness and Historical Inequalities in Brazil............................... 39

A. Racial Inequality.......................................................................... 39

B. Gender Inequality........................................................................ 45

C. Indigenous People....................................................................... 50

D. Regional Inequalities.................................................................

IV. Inequality and Brazil’s Declining Rule of Law................................... 59

3. The Authoritarian Mindset and the Rule of Law in Brazil....................... 63

I. Introduction: Hobsbawm’s Omen and the Authoritarian

Mindset in Brazil.......................................................................................... 63

II. The Theoretical Justification of the Authoritarian Mindset:

The Three Main Pillars................................................................................. 66

III. The Reinvention of the Authoritarian Mindset in History................... 67

A. The Authoritarian Mindset in Authoritarian Regimes................. 67

B. The Authoritarian Mindset in the Awakening of

Democracy: A Clash of Narratives...................................................................... 71

C. The Authoritarian Mindset and the Revival

of the Military under Jair Bolsonaro................................................................... 78

IV The Reinvention of the Authoritarian Mindset

after Years of Democratic Life...................................................................... 84

4. The Rule of Law and Brazilian Political Institutions:

A Reshaped �Coalition Presidentialism'..................................................... 87

I. Introduction: Some Cautionary Remarks About

the Brazilian Political System....................................................................... 87

II. The Brazilian Political System: Efficiency or Deep

Dysfunctionality?......................................................................................... 92

A. A Strong Presidentialism?............................................................ 92

B. A Highly Fragmented and Oligarchical Congress......................... 98

C. Clientelism and �Coalition Presidentialism':

A Necessary Correlation?..................................................................................

III. A Reshaped �Coalition Presidentialism'............................................. 110

5. The Rule of Law and Brazil's Politicised Judicial System........................ 113

I. Introduction: The Judiciary in a Country in Crisis......................... 113

II. The Judiciary's Constitutional Design................................................ 116

A. The Federal, State and Specialised Courts................................. 116

B. The Federal Supreme Court...................................................... 120

C. The Ancillary' Institutions of Justice: The Public

Ministry, the Advocacy-General of the Union and the Public Defender's Office 129

III. A More Accessible, Though Still Unaccountable, Judiciary

and the Increasing Culture of Rights.......................................................... 132

IV. Privileges and the Judicial System: The Judiciary

as a Blatant Illustration of Brazil's Inequality............................................. 135

V. Criminal Justice and Police Forces..................................................... 138

6. The Extra-Legal Influences on the Rule of Law and Mechanisms

of Accountability in Brazil........................................................................ 146

I. Introduction: The Paradoxical Relationship Between

the Private and Public Sectors in Brazil...................................................... 146

II. The Data of Corruption in Brazil According

to International Indicators.......................................................................... 148

III. The Combat of Corruption in Brazil: The Effects of Path

Dependence, Inequality, and Institutional Design Flaws............................ 153

IV. Accountability Institutions, Incremental Improvements

in Combatting Corruption and Political Backlash:

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back?....................................................... 157

A. Accountability Institutions.......................................................

B. The Expected Political Backlash.............................................. 160

V. The Organised Civil Society and the Quest for Fairness

Amidst Self-Preservation Movements: A Permanent Struggle..................... 163

VI. A Free and Independent Media?........................................................ 168

A. The Media as a Key Player in Brazilian Democracy

and in its Backsliding......................................................................................... 168

B. The Power of the New Media: Fake News

as the New Normal............................................................................................ 174

7. The Rule of Law in Brazil and the Challenges of

International Law..................................................................................... 179

I. Introduction: Brazil as a Soft Power?............................................ 179

II. The Rule of Law in Brazil and International Law: Impacts on the Domestic Level........................................................................................................... 181

III. Brazil and Regional Integration: The MERCOSUR........................... 186

IV Brazil and International Tribunals: The Inter-American

Court of Human Rights.............................................................................. 191

V The International Perception of Brazil’s Compliance

with the Rule of Law.................................................................................. 195

8. The Future of the Rule of Law in Brazil................................................... 198

I. The Destabilising Factors of the Rule of Law in Brazil........................... 198

A. The Growing Polarisation in Society and Politics...................... 200

B. The Disarrangement of the Political and Judicial

Systems............................................................................................................. 202

C. A New �Equilibrium’?............................................................... 203

II. The Future of Brazil’s Rule of Law................................................... 207

Bibliography...................................................................................................... 216

Index.................................................................................................................. 235

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