Brazil: Towards a (Neo)Liberal Democracy?

Abstract

One of the mantras that a student of Brazilian politics and society quickly encounters is that Brazil is not like other countries in the region, being a Portuguese-speaking former monarchy in a continent of Spanish-speaking republics. This assertion of difference and exceptionalism in core principles of national identity also resonates in debates on economic policy and the consolidation of democracy. Where other countries in South America such as Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela have spent most of the first decade of the twenty-first century profoundly questioning the economic models implemented within their countries and seeking to radically reformulate representative institutions and traditions, the reverse has taken place in Brazil. Here, the process has been one of continuity of central features of the national political economy, with change primarily limited to the mode of application. The 2002 electoral transition from the Center-Right government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso to the leftist government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva saw the rise of a Chile-like consensus on what shape economic policy should take. Mainstream political questions now revolve more around a tinkering with existing institutions, not the wholesale reformulation of repre sentative systems. This is not to argue that there is no dissatisfaction with the socioeconomic situation; it is obvious that great challenges remain.