Brazil: The Land Reform that Wasn’t

Abstract

In contrast to the countries heretofore examined, significant land reform did not occur in Brazil despite promises by most governments since the mid-twentieth century. As expected, however, the timing of land reform proposals coincided with proposed or enacted expansions of suffrage. This chapter examines two periods of expansion of suffrage and land reform. During the early 1960s, President João Goulart attempted both the extension of suffrage to illiterates and land reform. Upon redemocratization in 1985, President José Sarney decreed the extension of suffrage to illiterates and a new land reform plan. Further legislation followed in the Constitution of 1988. The land reform attempts did not succeed: the military coup of 1964 ended reform in the 1960s, Sarney’s ambitious plan faltered, and the 1988 Constitution deferred significant reform.KeywordsLand ReformRural PoorMilitary RegimeConstitutional AmendmentAgrarian ReformThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.