Resisting Democratic Backsliding From Within the State: Environmental Politics in Bolsonaro's Brazil

What is democratic backsliding?

Resumo O artigo propõe um mapa da área acadêmica de estudos do pensamento político brasileiro (PPB) no âmbito da ciência política brasileira. Na primeira seção, o trabalho explica as razões da sua indeterminação terminológica e indaga seus significados conceituais como objeto e disciplina. Como objeto, em sentido lato, o PPB alude ao conjunto de ideologias de que a cultura política do Brasil é composta, apresentadas em um estilo de escrita "periférico". De um ponto vista estrito, o PPB se refere aos "clássicos" de nossa teoria ou ciência política, escritos antes da institucionalização universitária na década de 1970. Na última seção, considera-se o pensamento político como disciplina universitária dedicada ao estudo da história das ideias políticas no Brasil, descrevendo-se seu desenvolvimento, suas interpretações, seus pesquisadores mais notáveis e seus principais grupos de pesquisa: o mannheimiano, o lukacsiano e o gramsciano. O artigo conclui sugerindo o estreitamento das relações entre PPB e teoria política geral.

For two decades, representatives of third world countries have argued in international fora that poverty pollutes more noxiously than does development.' From the IUCN's World Conservation Strategy in 1980 to the Brundtland Commission report and the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, environmentalist manifestoes increasingly incorporated developmental concerns.2 The notion of sustainable development linked environmental conservation with economic growth and later increasingly with social equity.3 In practice, the connections have been difficult to sustain. As long as poor people were seen mainly as causes, however inadvertent, of environmental degradation, solutions were unlikely to be of their own making. At the end of the 1980s, however, in several well-publicized cases, including the one discussed here, advocates began to portray poor people as protagonists, even leaders, in seeking solutions. The story of how and why this inversion occurred is a fascinating example of the social construction of an issue and shows the relationship between strategic acts of image making, alliance building, and the seizing of institutional opportunities. The political configuration of environmental and social conflicts and those attempting to address them vary considerably among and within countries. Connections are not always self-evident, nor are they self-activating. They are at least in part constituted by the social actors involved. When environmentalists began to call for growth with equity, they moved onto terrain already occupied by labor and social movement activists who were not sure what to make of them. The reinterpretation of long-standing struggles for social justice through an environmental lens has had profound implications for the resources and strategies available to their protagonists. Similarly, attempts to meld social and environmental agendas have been a major challenge for environmentalists. Although it is not unusual for social movements to adapt to new situations, blending old struggles with new and developing new strategies for approaching them, the approximation discussed here is unusual for two reasons. First, it involves sets of actors who normally espouse different visions of such fundamental questions as the relationship between humans and nature and the primacy of material and nonmaterial struggles. Second, it has involved a great deal of self-conscious negotiation, not only of alliances and strategies, but also of these fundamental conceptions. Activists trying to build these relationships frequently rely on stories about struggles where environmental and equity considerations are joined. These stories help to build a frame in which apparently contradictory meanings and demands dissolve and diverse struggles become one. This process of frame alignment (in the sense that David Snow and his colleagues use the term) addresses not only participants and potential participants, but also broader publics who can be expected to respond to one or another element in the stories.

Brazil’s energy matrix is among the most renewable in the world: 46% stems from hydroelectric dams, sugar cane-based ethanol, and wood and vegetable carbon. However, by some estimates Brazil is also the fourth-highest greenhouse gas emitter – a position earned by deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, which when combined with conversion to pasture or agriculture, releases 80% of Brazil’s annual GHG emissions. Renewable energy, meanwhile, is not as green as it first appears – sugar cane requires extensive tracts of land on which to grow; biodiesel producers employ both bovine fat and soybeans, increasing demand from industries linked to deforestation; and hydroelectric dams require local deforestation, and produce downstream ecological consequences. Thus, renewables may contribute to deforestation-related GHG emissions, if environmental laws are not enforced. By discussing the trajectories of Amazon deforestation, renewable energy, and environmental politics in Brazil, this chapter illustrates that “green” industry may have “brown” consequences.

Resumo O cenário brasileiro na segunda década do século XXI exige atenção no que diz respeito às questões ambientais com consequências às comunidades indígenas do país. No artigo, propõe-se discutir relatos de representantes indígenas quanto ao aumento da veiculação de notícias acerca da devastação ambiental com debates sobre mudanças na política socioambiental do país. Sob aportes teóricos que destacam essas problemáticas em populações indígenas, utiliza-se entrevistas realizadas com indígenas Kaingang. A partir de suas narrativas, discute-se o cenário socioambiental do Brasil e a veiculação de notícias acerca do tema. Permeando a literatura com as narrativas produzidas, entende-se que este cenário socioambiental é sentido tanto na perspectiva afetiva como cognitiva, mostrando entendimentos acerca da posição marginalizada que os governos tratam as populações indígenas e o meio ambiente.

Na Comunicação, a palavra mídia é largamente empregada para explicar os acontecimentos do processo político, com os mais variados significados. Por outro lado, do ponto de vista da Ciência Política praticada no Brasil, a mídia não alcançou ainda o status de categoria ou variável importante nas análises mais tradicionais. Qual a importância do conceito para os dois campos e, afinal, de qual mídia nós, pesquisadores, estamos falando? O objetivo deste trabalho é discutir qual conceito de mídia vem sendo utilizado nas pesquisas em Comunicação e em Ciência Política no Brasil, especialmente nos estudos que inter-relacionam os dois campos, como os dedicados à Comunicação e Política e Mídia e Política.

In a developing country like Bangladesh, the devolved local government system is widely recognized as one of the key institutional forms for the citizen-centric public service delivery system and ensuring democratic governance at the grassroots level. However, the democratic nature of local governments and their effective role in rendering services are contingent upon the political and institutional environments of the country. Competitive electoral process is key to local democratic governance. The purpose of this article is to analyze the implications of contemporary political order and institutional environments for the proper functioning of the Union Parishad (council), the lowest tier of the local government system in Bangladesh. More specifically, this study will reflect on how political clientelism, partyarchy and institutional environments have stymied competitive electoral politics at the local level which may result in democratic backsliding.

"This article explains how judicial review influences intergovernmental political dynamics in Brazil, Colombia and Spain. The argument is developed in light of two questions: how supreme courts have established themselves as pivotal institutions for settling vertical intergovernmental disputes, and how national and subnational politicians use judicial review in order to enhance their own interests. A comparison between the judicial review processes in federal Brazil, quasi-federal Spain, and unitary Colombia provides an answer to these questions. Accounting for the differences in the territorial organization and systems of government among these countries, the article assesses the patterns of judicial review originating from the subnational level. Findings suggest that courts affect the interaction between national and subnational politicians in the three country-cases, but through different patterns of judicialization of territorial politics."

This paper evaluates the gender-based quota law for candidates in legislative elections in Brazil, identifying challenges and barriers to the ultimate goal of increasing female elected officials. Beyond analyzing the policymaking process and the obstacles to implementing quotas, the study presents a quantitative analysis based on the 2020 municipal legislative elections in the state of São Paulo. It explores key demographic differences between male and female candidates, such as race, education, and marital status, and assesses their impact on electoral success. The findings reveal that, for female candidates, characteristics like being white, well-educated, and married significantly increased their likelihood of being elected, more so than for their male counterparts. These results underscore the persistent cultural and institutional barriers that women face in Brazilian politics, aligning with existing literature on gender norms and political participation worldwide. The paper also provides policy recommendations to strengthen the enforcement of gender quotas, improve financial support for female candidates, and build institutional capacity to enhance women’s political preparedness, aiming to foster long-term systemic change in Brazilian politics.

Finding the sweet spot in climate policy: balancing stakeholder engagement with bureaucratic autonomy

While it is well-known that democratic backsliding imposes a variety of challenges on civil society organisations, it is often assumed that it represses civil society. However, a closer look at the impact of democratic backsliding on civil society organisations reveals that even in countries where democratic backsliding is fairly advanced, the relationship between civil society and the state is more complex. Close cooperation and partnership between civil society organisations and the state are scarce in backsliding countries; the relationship between civil society organisations and the state might, however, range from hostility to varying forms and degrees of co-optation. Based on interviews with representatives of civil society organisations and the examination of the sector-specific social and political environment, we aim to explore the forms and factors that shape the relationship between civil society organisations and the state in Hungary. More specifically, we analyse the impact of the changing political opportunity structures on three important sectors of civil society organisations: human rights organisations, environmental organisations, and women’s organisations. We argue that, to seize control over civil society the government applies sector-specific strategies, ranging from exclusion to co-optation. State strategies, in turn, spark different responses from civil society organisations.

There is renewed scholarly interest in studying the dynamics of constitutional revolutions and the explanations for the rise of constitutional courts around the world. At the same time, there is growing discussion of democratic backsliding and concern that democracies are exhibiting extremism, weakening of opposition forces and constitutional courts, and violations of civil and political rights that are pertinent to vibrant democracies. Scholars try to study both phenomena and understand the relationship between them. Israel is an important case study for both agendas. This Article analyzes the jurisprudence of Aharon Barak, one of the greatest jurists of our time with a worldwide reputation for revolutionizing both Israeli constitutional law and comparative constitutional law. It explains the tactics and strategy used by Barak to revolutionize Israeli constitutional law on issues of reasonableness, proportionality, standing, justiciability, constitutional review, equality, and supra-constitutional law. It reveals how each revolution paved the way for the next. It offers explanations for the effectiveness of these judicially-led revolutions as well as possible bases for their legitimation. Barak was a common law judge and ultimately treated parliamentary sovereignty as a doctrine arising from common law and constrained by common law, though he never quite put it in these terms. The Article concludes with explanations for the political backlash experienced by the current Israeli Supreme Court that some have characterized as democratic backsliding. It argues that the Court contributes to the development of law as part of a dialog and interaction between the different branches of government. As the Court operates within these dynamics, it must understand and take into account the institutional, political, and social environments in which it operates to preserve legitimacy and achieve efficacy. Barak was a strategic player that laid foundations for an expansive judicial power, but his Court was very prudent in utilizing that power. His successors may have contributed unintentionally to the backlash against the Court by following Barak’s substantive jurisprudence, but not necessarily his prudent tactics and strategy.

Race and Nation in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Brazil Kia Lilly Caldwell (bio) White Negritude: Race, Writing, and Brazilian Cultural Identity. By Alexandra Isfahani-Hammond. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Pp. 194. $69.95 cloth. Mama Africa: Reinventing Blackness in Bahia. By Patricia de Santan Pinho. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010. Pp. x + 266. $84.85 cloth. $23.95 paper. Brazil’s New Racial Politics. Edited by Bernd Reiter and Gladys L. Mitchell. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2010. Pp. viii + 251. $59.95 cloth. Uneven Encounters: Making Race and Nation in Brazil and the United States. By Micol Seigel. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009. Pp. xxii + 386. $89.95 cloth. $24.95 paper. These four books provide important insights into Brazilian racial dynamics from both traditional and contemporary perspectives. Each contributes to the recent surge in scholarship on race in Brazil and moves this scholarship in interesting and exciting new directions. Together, the books examine the ideologies of racial democracy, racism, and antiracism through various disciplinary and interdisciplinary methods, including literary, cultural, historical, and social-science approaches. They also situate Brazilian racial dynamics in the context of twentieth- and twenty-first-century social and political dynamics, and they raise important questions about the roles of race and racism in Brazilian society. Brazil’s New Racial Politics was inspired by Michael Hanchard’s edited volume Racial Politics in Contemporary Brazil (1999). Edited by political scientists Bernd Reiter and Gladys L. Mitchell, Brazil’s New Racial Politics is an innovative and timely collection of multidisciplinary research by Brazil- and U.S.-based sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, and scholars in the field of communication studies. Several contributors map the advent of affirmative action policies for Brazilians of African descent in the early 2000s, how governmental discourses and policies related to race have unfolded, and the impact of those changes on social and political dynamics in the country. Seth Racusen, Mónica Treviño González, and Renato Emerson dos Santos examine these policies and university entry (preparatory) courses for black and poor students, illuminating the role of race in access to education and the challenges of creating public policies to combat racial inequalities. Racusen’s masterful analysis of university admissions offers useful suggestions for improving the process of [End Page 201] selecting students of African descent. Treviño provides important background on shifting forms and strategies of black mobilization, particularly among women; this mobilization has moved from ideological resistance to racial prejudice and discrimination to calling for the state to combat racism. Treviño finds that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have played an increasingly important role in developing policies such as affirmative action for Afro-Brazilians. At the same time, however, the lack of support from the broader public threatens the sustainability of these new measures. Santos provides additional insights into the politics of race and higher education. His analysis of university entry courses focuses on Pré-Vestibular para Negros e Carentes (PVNC), a network for black and poor students established in Rio’s Baixada Fluminense in the early 1990s. Santos traces such preparatory institutions to 1976 and to the inspiration of the renowned black activist Abdias do Nascimento and the Center of Brazil-Africa Studies. (Indeed, Nascimento and members of the Black Experimental Theatre first proposed affirmative action and other public policies to combat racism in the 1940s.1) This background to recent developments is useful, as it makes clear the long-standing challenges that Afro-Brazilians have faced in the effort to achieve educational equity, particularly at the postsecondary level. Several essays in Brazil’s New Racial Politics look instead at formal politics and political institutions. Mitchell focuses on how black voters perceive black candidates for electoral office. Using survey data from the cities of Salvador and São Paulo, she argues that voters who embrace blackness by identifying themselves as preto (black) or pardo (mixed race and/or brown) tend to vote for black candidates in higher numbers. This analysis challenges most scholarship on race and politics in Brazil by pointing to the existence of an untapped “black vote.” Cloves Luiz Pereira Oliveira examines the 1996 election of Celso Pitta, the first black mayor of S...

THE BRAZILIAN coup d'etat of 1964 replaced one of Latin America's most important representative democracies with a military-controlled authoritarian regime that had a decidedly rightist political philosophy. Some years later, roughly from 1968 onward, a spectacular growth of Brazil's peripheral capitalistic economy began, and was soon termed the miracle. As a consequence of both its political alignment and its economic expansion, Brazil began to acquire an entirely new importance on the international scene, although mainly within the American hemisphere, also increasingly beyond. In seeking to explain this process, scholarly efforts have followed two distinct, though virtually complementary, directions: that of preparing or tentatively offering analyses in terms of more or less elaborated comparative theory; and that of understanding contemporary events as an outcome of Brazil's political, economic, and social history. Following the latter perspective, this paper tries to show that education is one of the mechanisms developed by the dominant segments of (or the segments competing for influence in) Brazilian society, through direct initiatives and/or use of the political system, to enforce their respective interests. By examining this mechanism it is hoped that important insights will be gained into the overall process of the transformation of the Brazilian society -particularly the relationship between changes in social stratification and the political system. Its contention, furthermore, is that in Brazil the societal role of education has overwhelmingly been that of reinforcing the social dynamics prevailing at any given moment. The two general propositions summarize a pattern that seems to emerge from a variety of studies-in history, sociology, political science, economics, and education-published over the last twenty years. Sketching out this pattern this paper suggests a line of interpretation that seems helpful for understanding the politics of education in Brazil.

Theotonio Dos Santos (1936–2018): The Revolutionary Intellectual Who Pioneered Dependency Theory