Benvindo, J: Rule of Law in Brazil

Erscheinungsjahr 2024
ISBN: 978-1-5099-6190-0
Verlag: BLOOMSBURY 3PL

Buch, Englisch, 264 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: The Rule of Law in Context

This book provides a broad perspective of the functioning, evolution, and dynamics of the rule of law in Brazil. It stresses not only how the rule of law has developed in the legal system, but also how the political institutions and extra-legal organisations have transformed its foundations.

The rule of law is not a simple concept when it comes to defining the political, economic, and legal developments of a country like Brazil. Similar to many other Latin American countries, Brazil is a young democracy struggling with its longstanding extractive institutions and entrenched interests. It features, however, one of Latin America's richest constitutional moments, when civil society actively participated in drafting the most democratic constitution in the country's history. Brazil has since strengthened its institutions and the rule of law, but the road toward consolidating them has been challenged by inequality and the legacies of that authoritarian past.

The book explores how Brazilian democracy has dealt with the high levels of social inequality and the authoritarian mindset that still play a big role in its fate, and asks whether the country's democratic achievements and institutional framework are sufficiently strong to enforce the rule of law as an imperative for Brazil's development, especially in times when the country is most in need of them.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Benvindo, Juliano Zaiden

Fachgebiete

• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Mittel-/Südamerika

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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 Brazil
I. 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 Bolsonaro
IV. 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 Indicators
III. 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

Über Autor(innen)

Benvindo, Juliano Zaiden
Juliano Zaiden Benvindo is Professor of Constitutional Law and Head of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Brasília. He is also a fellow at the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and Capes-Humboldt Senior Fellow at the Max-Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany.

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