Transition In Brazil Research Articles

Participatory Publics: Civil Society and New Institutions in Democratic Brazil

Brazil is home to some of the most successful experiences in participatory local government. The proliferation of civil society organizations in Brazil during the transition to democratic rule was accompanied by the development of new political values and strategies that fostered institutional renewal at the municipal level. Brazil's 1988 constitution decentralized political authority, thereby granting municipal administrations sufficient resources and political independence to restructure policymaking processes. Coalitions of civil society organizations and political reformers have taken advantage of this flexibility to experiment with new institutional types. The political strategies of civil society organizations are often driven by the need to find immediate solutions to dire social problems and by a broader interest in increasing the access of ordinary citizens to key decision-making venues. The strategies of the political reformers, often led by the left-of-center Workers' Party (PT), have been based on transforming how and to whom public goods are distributed. Scholars in the theoretical debate on democratization have missed key linkages among civil society activists, local participation, governing coalitions, and institutions because they have conceived of only two mutually exclusive options, the demobilization of civil society in posttransition settings and the emergence of counterinstitutional civil society organizations of a social movement type. These theoretical frameworks are unable to show how Brazil's civil society is linked to efforts to expand the institutional terrain on which citizens compete for political resources. This article identifies cases in Brazil where civil society organizations challenge old practices, such as clientelism and patronage, while simultaneously offering concrete alternatives for new practices, strategies, and institutions. The specific political strategies developed by civil society organizations during Brazil's transition to democracy fostered the creation of deliberative policymaking institutions. One institutional type, participatory budgeting, incorporates citizens into deliberative decision-making venues. Political activity within civil society has led to significant political and social change in municipal government in Brazil, belying claims that Brazil finds itself trapped in a deadlocked democracy.' Participatory budgeting was initiated in 1989 in the municipality of Porto Alegre

Globalization and Recent Political Transitions in Brazil

This article discusses political transitions in Brazil in the context of globalization. It focuses on the political legacies that offered resistance to external processes and on the emergence of “new checks and balances” that constituted the relevant conditions for processes of political decision-making from the 1980s to 2002. It also shows that the management of economic policies, combined with the broader political process, was an important dimension of these political transitions. The article concludes by emphasizing the challenges that exist in the treatment of social issues and the connections between the domestic and the international agendas.

Nutritional transition in Brazil: geographic and temporal trends

Based on three cross-sectional studies conducted in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, an analysis of the nutritional transition in Brazil was performed. This analysis found a rapid decrease in the prevalence of childhood malnutrition and an even more rapid increase in adult overweight/obesity. Correction of the height deficit was 72% in urban children and 54.4% in rural children. Obesity rates doubled or tripled in adult men and women at the extremes of the time series analyzed. Excluding the rural Northeast, malnutrition prevalence in adult women dropped to acceptable rates (about 5%) starting in 1989. Inversely, anemia continued to display a high prevalence, and there is indication of an epidemic trend. The evolution of nutritional status in the Brazilian population according to macro-regions and social distribution is reported. The likely factors for the observed changes are analyzed.

The Role of Nucleo de Estudos da Violencia in the Struggle for Universal Access to Human Rights in Brazil

he Center for the Study of Violence, or Nuicleo de Estudos da Violencia (NEV), was conceived in 1987 as an interdisciplinary academic center dedicated to studying the persistence of human rights violations and resistance to the rule of law during Brazil's transition from military rule to democracy. Fifteen years later, the main theoretical challenge in NEV's work remains the persistence of human rights violations-in particular, such gross violations as those that inhibit the right to life and to physical integrityand their impact on establishing a democratic society in Brazil. At first, NEV's work concentrated mainly on the right to life, particularly the right to physical integrity and protection against abuses by the state. After 1993, and as a result of the Vienna Declaration and Program Of Action (the final document issued by the World Conference on Human Rights) NEV's work expanded to include the full spectrum of rights, encompassing economic and social rights as well

Wind power in Brazil—transition using German experience

The development of the installed capacity of wind energy converters in Germany shows that a significant increase of its contribution to the energy supply is possible, depending on the measures introduced by the state. In contrast to Germany, Brazil has not been very concerned about its greenhouse gas emissions yet, as more than 90% of the electricity is generated by hydropower. However, due to the current energy crisis Brazil has to search for alternatives in order to stabilize the energy matrix and diminish the dependence on precipitation, especially as a new capacity of about 4 GW has to be installed each year. The intention of the authors is to present the German conditions that led to the current favorable situation for wind energy and to compare these to the Brazilian circumstances that exist for an extended application of this energy source. At the same time special attention is paid to the newest legal developments in Brazil.

Evidence for Lake Formation as a Response to an Inferred Holocene Climatic Transition in Brazil

Geochemical, mineralogical, and palynological records from a Holocene sediment core 12.7 m long from Lake Silvana, southeastern Brazil, served to identify the source of detrital sediments within catchment soils. The lake basin was first flooded in the early Holocene (9400 14C yr B.P.), when a gibbsite-rich B soil horizon started to accumulate. Four distinct hydrologic phases are consistent with vegetational changes indicated by pollen data. Phases of slope instability (colluviation) and low lake level correspond to pollen-free intervals and point to a severe retreat of the vegetation cover. The rapid sedimentation of slope-wash sediments alternating with alluvial sediments appears to have formed a tributary fan 7.8 m thick that dammed the Lake Silvana Basin 8500 14C yr B.P., probably as a response to a drastic increase in precipitation rates.

Labor Reform and Dual Transitions in Brazil and the Southern Cone

Labor Reform and Dual Transitions in Brazil and the Southern Cone

Labor Reform and Dual Transitions in Brazil and the Southern Cone

AbstractThe sequencing of transitions to democracy and to a market economy shaped the outcome of labor law reform and prospects for expanded labor rights in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Argentina and Brazil experienced democratic transitions before market economic reforms were consolidated in the 1990s. During the transition, unions obtained prolabor reforms and secured rights that were enshrined in labor law. In posttransition democratic governments, market reforms coincided with efforts to reverse earlier labor protections. Unable to block many harmful reforms, organized labor in Argentina and Brazil did conserve core interests linked to organizational survival and hence to future bargaining leverage. In Chile this sequence was reversed. Market economic policies and labor reform were consolidated under military dictatorship. During democratic transition, employers successfully resisted reforms that would expand labor rights. This produced a limited scope of organizational resources for Chilean unions and reduced prospects for future improvements.

Age transition of tuberculosis incidence and mortality in Brazil.

Before the Aids pandemic, demographic transition and control programs prompted a shift in the age of incidence of tuberculosis from adults to older people in many countries. The objective of the study is to evaluate this transition in Brazil. Tuberculosis incidence and mortality data from the Ministry of Health and population data from the Brazilian Bureau of Statistics were used to calculate age-specific incidence and mortality rates and medians. Among reported cases, the proportion of older people increased from 10.5% to 12% and the median age from 38 to 41 years between the period of 1986 and 1996. The smallest decrease in the incidence rate occurred in the 30 - 49 and 60+ age groups. The median age of death increased from 53 to 55 years between 1980 and 1996. The general decline in mortality rates from 1986 to 1991 became less evident in the 30+ age group during the period of 1991 to 1996. A direct correlation between age and mortality rates was observed. The largest proportion of bacteriologically unconfirmed cases occurred in older individuals. The incidence of tuberculosis has begun to shift to the older population. This shift results from the decline in the annual risk of infection as well as the demographic transition. An increase in reactivation tuberculosis in older people is expected, since this population will grow from 5% to 14% of the Brazilian population over the next 50 years. A progressive reduction in HIV-related cases in adults will most likely occur. The difficulty in diagnosing tuberculosis in old age leads to increased mortality.

Democratization, political affinity, and industrial policy in Brazil

With the continuing consolidation of democratic forms of government in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America, people with advanced technical training play an increasingly influential role in shaping industrial policy in these regions. This is especially true in newly industrializing countries (NICs) such as Brazil, which are striving to maintain their technological competitiveness in the world economy — or at the very least, not fall further behind the more developed countries. The role of such technical elites 1 As used here, “technical elites” refers to scientists, technically trained bureaucrats, and industrialists associated with high technology industries. 1 in the shaping of industrial policy during Brazil's transition to democracy, which occurred from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, serves as a useful case study for demonstrating the influence these groups can have on industrial policy in NICs during democratic transitions. The Brazilian case further demonstrates that the political orientations of technical elites in various industries can significantly influence policy outcomes.

The Emerging Paradigm for Technology Learning in the Knowledge Society

This paper examines the significance of the technology incubator in Brazil's transition from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy. The author examines how incubators can contribute to technology development and enterprise creation, stressing their ability to provide a two-way flow of information between higher education institutions and the private sector, breaking down the mutual distrust that has often hindered the successful exploitation of R&D in the past. The author discusses both the learning needs of companies and the ways in which universities need to change to adapt to the demands of the new knowledge society, placing this analysis in the context of how incubators can be organized to function efficiently. In illustration, she provides the working example of the Biominas Incubator in the state of Minas Gerais.

A Longa Constituinte: Reforma do Estado e Fluidez Institucional no Brasil

The article discusses the process of political and economic transition in Brazil since the close of the Constitutional Congress. Addressing the question from an institutionalist perspective, it is argued that these two dimensions of the transition are not the only ones which should be considered in conjunction; a series of other factors must be taken into account as well. First is the question of the sequential chain within the transition process: policies enacted at a given moment depend upon circumstances generated earlier, both in content and in form, creating a relation of path-dependence. Second, this constraint holds greater sway during a transition period, given the fluid conditions under which politics are played out: the political climate and institutions change over time. Third, the actors go through a process of institutional learning, which means the same institutional structures are not operated in the same fashion at different moments. It is necessary to devise a dynamic model for analyzing Brazil's political system during this period. More valuable than any static model would be an analysis of the process which takes into account the intermixing of different political agendas (simultaneously and sequentially), institutional fluidity, and environmental transformations.

The Brazilian voter: mass politics in democratic transition, 1974-1986

This work deals with the dramatic transition in Brazil from military to civilian rule between 1974 and 1985, arguing that whereas democratic skills atrophied under authoritarianism, public opinion revived when the military liberalised electoral politics in 1974.

Constructing and Negotiating Gender in Women's Police Stations in Brazil

In 1985, in a gesture motivated both by progressive politics and political opportunism, the state government of Sao Paulo, Brazil, inaugurated the country's-indeed, the world's-first of many all-female police stations charged with investigating and prosecuting cases of violence against women. ground-breaking recognition of this gender-specific aspect of crime by the state was unprecedented in Brazil and indeed the women's precinct structure is unparalleled anywhere in the world (Alvarez, 1989: 237). The idea behind its creation was that the traditional institutional response to grievances of violence against women was inadequate and even discriminatory. Police, almost always men, routinely ignored and rarely prosecuted cases of physical and sexual abuse of women and often blamed and harassed the victims. These female police stations or delegacias de defesa da mulher (hereafter referred to as DDMs) began in Sao Paulo as an experimental institutional response to the deficiencies of the regular police stations. The DDMs represent a great achievement on the part of the Brazilian women's movement, but their location within the civil police engenders many political contradictions. The very existence of a feminist-inspired institution within the coercive arm of the state seems paradoxical, especially considering Brazil's history of military rule and police repression of resistance movements. However, it could also be seen as a necessary component of Brazil's transition to a multiparty democratic system. The DDMs are one of many civil initiatives to be implemented since the end of military rule, representing a systematic effort to legitimate the new regime and the position of the leading party or parties therein. Thus the role of the DDMs in Brazilian society is politically rather ambiguous.

Christian Base Communities and the Building of Democracy: Brazil and Chile

Among most significant phenomena in recent South American history are transitions from authoritarian rule to democracy in Brazil (1985), Argentina ( 1982-1983), Uruguay (1985), Bolivia (1982), and Chile (1990). The intent of this article is to analyze influence of Christian base communities ( or CEBs, from Spanish comunidades eclesiales de base) on two stages of democratic transition in Brazil and Chile: (I) transition in political re~mes and (2) consolidation of democracy. This article be~ns by discussing basic concepts employed by analysts of democratic transitions, and then reviews literature that has related to religion to democracy. Drawing upon literature concerned with role of CEBs in democratic transition and consolidation, I then summarize how CEBs -- both as organizations andas bearers of political values ~ have fostered development of democracy. The conclusions, based on my preliminary observation of CEB activity in Chile and on recent empirical studies, suggest that while base communities continue to encourage democratic values and practices, their future role in this area is likely to diminish. There are both religions of oppressed.., and kinds of religions that have been summed up in label given to Church of England as the Conservative Party at prayer. The relationship of religious beliefs, let alone movements and organizations, to established power system then varies, and is not a matter for metaphysical pronouncement disguised as sociological generalization. It requires empirical investigation to see what case is (Peter Worsley in Levine 1992:17-18).

Dual Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Popular and Electoral Democracy in Nicaragua

The most recent wave of democratization in Latin America has generated guarded optimism regarding prospects for democratic consolidation in region. Even those convinced of cyclical nature of regime change in Latin America have been moved to assert that current cycle of democratization is unprecedented in its depth and duration and may be able to sustain itself in long term.' The changes brought forth by these have been significant: restoration of civil and political liberties, establishment of freely contested elections, and creation of new opportunities for political participation. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize limitations of recent democratic transitions. In first place, many of can be characterized as elite-dominated or transitions from above. As Terry Karl points out, during these traditional rulers remain in control, even if pressured from below, and successfully use strategies of either compromise or force-or some mix of two-to retain at least part of their power.2 In Brazil, for example, unprecedented popular mobilization in early 1984 demanding direct elections threatened to evolve beyond mediating control of political elites. Subsequently, opposition elites abandoned their principal demand and entered into direct negotiations with military government, effectively marginalizing popular sectors in process. From this point on, elites, both incumbent and opposition, dominated transition to civilian rule; they focused their efforts on consolidation of political democracy, while disregarding imperatives of social and economic democracy.3 An important element in these transitions from above has been role of negotiated pacts. Many scholars argue that their benefits in terms of democratic consolidation outweigh costs involved. Evelyne Huber Stevens writes that 'economic elites need to be reassured that their vital interests will be protected under a democratic regime in order to keep them from trying to prevent an opening and undermine system once it has been opened.4 Guillermo O'Donnell and Philippe Schmitter contend that one of lessons of recent from authoritarian rule is that Left must accept two fundamental restrictions: the property rights of bourgeoisie are inviolable, and armed forces' existence, assets, and hierarchy cannot be eliminated or seriously threatened. ' What these observers fail to see is that, despite contributions pacts can make in furthering a transition from authoritarian rule, they may present important obstacles to establishment and consolidation of democratic rule. In exploring role of pacts in Brazil's transition, Frances Hagopian demonstrates how pacts enabled incumbent elites to retain significant political power in return for their support of democracy. This allowed military to solidify its predominant position within state and to preserve its institutional autonomy

The Politics of Military Rule in Brazil, 1964–1985

The largest and most important country in Latin America, Brazil was the first to succumb to the military coups that struck that region in the 1960s and the early 1970s. In this authoritative study, Thomas E. Skidmore, one of America's leading experts on Latin America and, in particular, on Brazil, offers the first analysis of more than two decades of military rule, from the overthrow of Joao Goulart in 1964, to the return of democratic civilian government in 1985 with the presidency of Jose Sarney. A sequel to Skidmore's highly acclaimed Politics in Brazil, 1930-1964, this volume explores the military rule in depth. Why did the military depose Goulart? What kind of miracle did their technocrats fashion? Why did General Costa e Silva's attempts to humanize the Revolution fail, only to be followed by the most repressive regime of the period? What led Generals Geisel and Golbery to launch the liberalization that led to abertura? What role did the Brazilian Catholic Church, the most innovative in the Americas, play? How did the military government respond in the early 1980s to galloping inflation and an unpayable foreign debt? Skidmore concludes by examining the early Sarney presidency and the clues it may offer for the future. Will democratic governments be able to meet the demands of urban workers and landless peasants while maintaining economic growth and international competitiveness? Can Brazil at the same time control inflation and service the largest debt in the developing world? Will its political institutions be able to represent effectively an electorate now three times larger than in 1964? What role will the military play in the future? In recent years, many Third World nations-Argentina, the Philippines, and Uruguay, among others-have moved from repressive military regimes to democratic civilian governments. Skidmore's study provides insight into the nature of this transition in Brazil and what it may tell about the fate of democracy in the Third World.

Democracy under siege: new military power in Latin America

Preface Military Autonomy and Democracy in Latin America The Armed Forces of Colombia and Ecuador in Comparative Perspective The Armed Forces in Peruvian Politics Democratization and Military Reform in Argentina The Armed Forces and Brazil's Transition to Democracy: The Figueiredo Administration Autonomy of the Military in Chile: From Democracy to Authoritarianism The Military in the Role of Substitute Political Party and Redemocratization in Uruguay The Modernization of the Mexican Armed Forces Armed Forces, Society, and the People: Cuba and Nicaragua The Development of Military Autonomy and Corporateness in Central America The Armed Forces and Democratization in Bolivia, 1982-1986 Bibliography Index

Divergent Trends in Brazilian Rural Transformation: Capitalised Agriculture in the Agreste and Sertão of the Northeast

A process of state-directed, accelerated industrialisation has provoked an enormous variety of agrarian transitions in Brazil. In different parts of the country one encounters the transition of peasant to proletarian; of peasant to small and medium-scale capitalised farmer or to proletarian; of multifunctional peasant to impoverished specialist peasant and even of proletarian to peasant. While each trend can be associated with a specific rural activity in certain regions of the country, the complexity of Brazilian rural transforma? tion is such that radically different trends can be found practically side by side in the same region.1 The forms of production which have emerged in capitalised cattle ranching of the Agreste and irrigation of the Sertao of the Northeast present such a case of regional diversity in which local variation in ecological potential, the impact of state development policy, the degree of capitalist development in agriculture and urban encroachment interrelate in such a way as to generate different agrarian transitions (see Fig. I).2 The expansion of capitalised cattle raising of the Agreste and state-sector capitalised irrigation of the Sertao are shown to be part and parcel of a national development model which leads to concentrated accumulation in the urban-industrial sector and, in turn, to rural land speculation and social polarisation.3 Small-scale irrigation of the Sertao, on the other hand, represents another trend where medium-scale farmers not only survive but prosper, and even the rural poor experience a surprising degree of upward social mobility. In this case, development takes place from 'below' in a zone of peripheral interest to capital and the state in such a way that capitalisation

Religion and the Consolidation of Democracy in Brazil: The Role of the Comunidades Eclesiais de Base (CEBs)

The role that the Brazilian Catholic Church has played in helping to effect Brazil's transition from military dictatorship to stable democratic polity has come under considerable scrutiny from a number of sources. Of particular interest to social scientists and religious leaders alike has been the impact of the Brazilian comunidades eclesiais de base or CEBs (usually translated as Christian communities), many of which are known to be active in the political sphere. This article evaluates the CEBs' current role in the democratization process in light of a number of recent interpretations of their essential nature and thrust. In many respects, the data, drawn from a four-year study of 22 CEBs located in Brazil's large and dynamic Archdiocese of Sao Paulo, show the CEBs to be maintaining an effective presence on the Brazilian political scene. Nevertheless, there is also evidence suggesting that the role of the groups is changing in such a way that the CEBs per se may fade as bona fide agents of social and political transformation. Such a change, it is held, is attributable to a multitude of factors, not the least of which are related to qualitative alterations in official Church support for CEB activation. In 1974, Brazil's military government initiated a process of political liberalization or abertura. By 1985-86, this initiative had resulted in the transfer of power to a civilian administration, the convocation of a constituent assembly to formulate a new constitution, and the restoration of basic political and human rights for the Brazilian population. Much remains to be done, however, as the civilian regime and Brazilians themselves work to ensure that newly restored democratic practices are safeguarded through institutionalization at the level of the state.1 The role that the Brazilian Catholic Church has played in helping to effect this ongoing transition from dictatorship to stable democracy has come under considerable scrutiny from a number of sources. Of particular interest to social scientists and religious leaders alike has been the impact of the Brazilian comunidades eclesiais de base or CEBs (usually translated as Christian communities), many of which are known to be active in the political sphere.