From the banestado case to operation car wash: Building an anti-corruption institutional framework in brazil*1

Abstract

The article analyzes the development process of a new anti-corruption institu-tionality in Brazil, based mainly on judicial tools and on the legal system – police officers, prosecutors, and judges – that finds its highest expression during the Operation Car Wash. The hypothesis is that the new anti-corruption institutionality was built in the first term through justice policies coordinated by the Federal gov-ernment, but was taken over by the Public Prosecution’s Office and the Judiciary. The article highlights the main characteristics of the new anti-corruption institu-tionality and introduces its historical construction, frame by frame, based on the evolution of task forces in Brazil from the Banestado Case to Operation Car Wash.