Political parties in and out of power in Brazil: Judicialization as a contingent result of political strategy

Abstract

The article analyzes the judicialization patterns in politics during the two terms of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002) and compare them to the subsequent period of slightly less than a term and a half under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2008). The purpose of the comparison was to observe whether appeals were issued to the Supreme Court challenging Federal acts on grounds of unconstitutionality. Both differences were observed and some common uses of judicialization when comparing the two Presidential Administrations.