Rule of Law in Brazil

Juliano Zaiden Benvindo is Professor of Constitutional Law and Head of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Brasília, Brazil.

• Introduction I. What Happened to the Brazil that was ‘Taking Off’?II. The Structure of this Book 1. The Conceptual Evolution of the Rule of Law in Brazil I. Introduction: A Prosaic Approach to the Rule of Law II. Democracy and Social Justice in the Core of the Rule of Law: A Normative Dispute? III. Estado de Direito in Brazil: Between Preservation and Democratisation IV. Estado de Direito in Brazil: Social Inequality as a Hindrance to Coordination V. The Rule of Law and Coordination in Unequal Societies 2. The Local Lived Experiences of the Rule of Law in Brazil: The Impacts of Social Inequality I. Introduction: A Persistent Inequality II. Brazil and its Longstanding Struggle with Social Inequality III. Inclusiveness and Historical Inequalities in Brazil A. Racial Inequality B. Gender Inequality C. Indigenous People D. Regional Inequalities IV. Inequality and Brazil’s Declining Rule of Law 3. The Authoritarian Mindset and the Rule of Law in BrazilI. Introduction: Hobsbawm’s Omen and the Authoritarian Mindset in Brazil II. The Theoretical Justification of the Authoritarian Mindset: The Three Main Pillars III. The Reinvention of the Authoritarian Mindset in History A. The Authoritarian Mindset in Authoritarian Regimes B. The Authoritarian Mindset in the Awakening of Democracy: A Clash of Narratives C. The Authoritarian Mindset and the Revival of the Military under Jair BolsonaroIV. The Reinvention of the Authoritarian Mindset after Years of Democratic Life 4. The Rule of Law and Brazilian Political Institutions: A Reshaped ‘Coalition Presidentialism’ I. Introduction: Some Cautionary Remarks About the Brazilian Political System II. The Brazilian Political System: Efficiency or Deep Dysfunctionality? A. A Strong Presidentialism? B. A Highly Fragmented and Oligarchical Congress C. Clientelism and ‘Coalition Presidentialism’: A Necessary Correlation? III. A Reshaped ‘Coalition Presidentialism’ 5. The Rule of Law and Brazil’s Politicised Judicial System I. Introduction: The Judiciary in a Country in Crisis II. The Judiciary’s Constitutional Design A. The Federal, State and Specialised Courts B. The Federal Supreme Court C. The ‘Ancillary’ Institutions of Justice: The Public Ministry, the Advocacy-General of the Union and the Public Defender’s Office III. A More Accessible, Though Still Unaccountable, Judiciary and the Increasing Culture of Rights IV. Privileges and the Judicial System: The Judiciary as a Blatant Illustration of Brazil’s Inequality V. Criminal Justice and Police Forces 6. The Extra-Legal Influences on the Rule of Law and Mechanisms of Accountability in Brazil I. Introduction: The Paradoxical Relationship Between the Private and Public Sectors in Brazil II. The Data of Corruption in Brazil According to International IndicatorsIII. The Combat of Corruption in Brazil: The Effects of Path Dependence, Inequality, and Institutional Design Flaws IV. Accountability Institutions, Incremental Improvements in Combatting Corruption and Political Backlash:Two Steps Forward, One Step Back? A. Accountability Institutions B. The Expected Political Backlash V. The Organised Civil Society and the Quest for Fairness Amidst Self-Preservation Movements: A Permanent Struggle VI. A Free and Independent Media? A. The Media as a Key Player in Brazilian Democracy and in its Backsliding B. The Power of the New Media: Fake News as the New Normal 7. The Rule of Law in Brazil and the Challenges of International Law I. Introduction: Brazil as a Soft Power? II. The Rule of Law in Brazil and International Law: Impacts on the Domestic Level III. Brazil and Regional Integration: The MERCOSUR IV. Brazil and International Tribunals: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights V. The International Perception of Brazil’s Compliance with the Rule of Law 8. The Future of the Rule of Law in Brazil I. The Destabilising Factors of the Rule of Law in Brazil A. The Growing Polarisation in Society and Politics B. The Disarrangement of the Political and Judicial Systems C. A New ‘Equilibrium’? II. The Future of Brazil’s Rule of Law

Democracy and the rule of law are under serious stress in Brazil. But what explains this current crisis in democratic constitutionalism in Brazil, and what can be done to address it? In this important and insightful new book, leading Brazilian scholar Juliano Zaiden Benvindo takes on these and other questions, to offer a fresh and vital account of the rule of law in Brazil.