Variedades da democracia no Brasil

Abstract

In this article, we present results for Brazil collected by the Varieties of Democracy project. We describe the historical evolution of democracy in Brazil from 1900 to 2012, focusing on its five main components (electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian), and on two adjacent dimensions of the regime (corruption and political parties). Lastly, we compare the data for Brazil with similar results for other South American countries. The results suggest that: A. A "spiral" trajectory has characterized Brazilian political regimes, so that new democratic experiences have always been more democratic in all dimensions than previous ones; b. The contemporary democratic experience combines positive results obtained in the electoral, liberal, and deliberative components of democracy, with less positive results observed in the egalitarian and participatory components of democracy, as well as in its adjacent dimensions.