A Wounded Democracy: Analysis of the Determinant Factors of Democratic Backsliding in Brazil

Despite its prominence in the international political landscape and its widespread adoption throughout the world, democracy is seldom a stable regimen, and often repeatedly stressed and tested by attempts to wield autocratic power. Anti-democratic attacks assume particular forms and may lead to var...

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Main Authors: Davi Mendes Málaga, Suely de Fátima Ramos Silveira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UTS ePRESS 2024-12-01
Series:Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/mcs/article/view/9071
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author Davi Mendes Málaga
Suely de Fátima Ramos Silveira
author_facet Davi Mendes Málaga
Suely de Fátima Ramos Silveira
author_sort Davi Mendes Málaga
collection DOAJ
description Despite its prominence in the international political landscape and its widespread adoption throughout the world, democracy is seldom a stable regimen, and often repeatedly stressed and tested by attempts to wield autocratic power. Anti-democratic attacks assume particular forms and may lead to varied outcomes, from the strengthening of enduring democracies, to democratic backsliding or its complete rupture. Among several similar cases, Brazil recently underwent an attempt against its democracy, which climaxed in an attempted coup d’état on January 8th, 2023. This paper aims to examine democratic backsliding as a phenomenon, through an analysis of the coup attempted in Brazil in 2023 as a case study. It was perceived that the presence of a would-be autocrat with a populist strategy in command of the executive branch of government played an important role in promoting democratic backsliding. While the Brazilian democracy sustained some lasting damage to its institutions, it has resisted this attack by autocracy.
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spelling doaj-art-cb52e3a2a74f43b49041a88f18dea9e62024-12-17T05:09:58ZengUTS ePRESSCosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal1837-53912024-12-0116310.5130/ccs.v16.i3.9071A Wounded Democracy: Analysis of the Determinant Factors of Democratic Backsliding in BrazilDavi Mendes Málaga0Suely de Fátima Ramos Silveira1Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), BrazilFederal University of Viçosa Despite its prominence in the international political landscape and its widespread adoption throughout the world, democracy is seldom a stable regimen, and often repeatedly stressed and tested by attempts to wield autocratic power. Anti-democratic attacks assume particular forms and may lead to varied outcomes, from the strengthening of enduring democracies, to democratic backsliding or its complete rupture. Among several similar cases, Brazil recently underwent an attempt against its democracy, which climaxed in an attempted coup d’état on January 8th, 2023. This paper aims to examine democratic backsliding as a phenomenon, through an analysis of the coup attempted in Brazil in 2023 as a case study. It was perceived that the presence of a would-be autocrat with a populist strategy in command of the executive branch of government played an important role in promoting democratic backsliding. While the Brazilian democracy sustained some lasting damage to its institutions, it has resisted this attack by autocracy. https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/mcs/article/view/9071Democratic BackslidingBrazilElectionsJair BolsonaroPopulismAutocratization
spellingShingle Davi Mendes Málaga
Suely de Fátima Ramos Silveira
A Wounded Democracy: Analysis of the Determinant Factors of Democratic Backsliding in Brazil
Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal
Democratic Backsliding
Brazil
Elections
Jair Bolsonaro
Populism
Autocratization
title A Wounded Democracy: Analysis of the Determinant Factors of Democratic Backsliding in Brazil
title_full A Wounded Democracy: Analysis of the Determinant Factors of Democratic Backsliding in Brazil
title_fullStr A Wounded Democracy: Analysis of the Determinant Factors of Democratic Backsliding in Brazil
title_full_unstemmed A Wounded Democracy: Analysis of the Determinant Factors of Democratic Backsliding in Brazil
title_short A Wounded Democracy: Analysis of the Determinant Factors of Democratic Backsliding in Brazil
title_sort wounded democracy analysis of the determinant factors of democratic backsliding in brazil
topic Democratic Backsliding
Brazil
Elections
Jair Bolsonaro
Populism
Autocratization
url https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/mcs/article/view/9071
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