Croissance et répression, la double logique de l'Etat deépendant: le cas du Brésil

Abstract

Growth and Repression, the Ambiguous Logic of the Dependent State: The Case of BrazilThe often intuitive association between the army and foreign capitalists alters the analysis of the condition of dependency and the nature of the dependent State. We intend to shed light on the importance of the Brazilian State's autonomy, in the face of foreign domination and local capitalists. This autonomy is strengthened by the fundamental shift noticed between the economic decision-making system and the method of political control. The link between political domination and economic decisions is found in the State; it lies in the association between the army and the civil technocracy. Our study shows that this association is based on a distribution of power within the state, that it is characterized by conflict, and thus that it requires bargaining. The difficulties encountered by the government, led by General Geisel (197479), reflect the contradictions of that association.Our purpose here is not to improve a typology and to advance subtle distinctions that would allow us to measure the present gap between the Brazilian regime and a democratic system, or the slight divergence that distinguishes it from a totalitarian government. Such an exercise appears to be of limited interest. The objectives of this study are to determine the nature of the Brazilian State—by a careful study of its political structure—and to identify social changes resulting from dependent dēvelopment.