LACK OF COMMUNICATION CAN BE TROUBLE: BRAZILIAN FEDERAL SUPREME COURT DECISION-MAKING BEHAVIOR AND SELF-PROMOTION STRATEGIES

Abstract

The post-1988 period in Brazil has brought as a consequence a greater role for the Judiciary in the political game, a fact that can be derived either from institutional arrangements or from strategies undertaken by its agents. Focusing on the second approach, it is discussed whether there is a communication strategy between the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) and the public. According to the literature, in spite of the fact that the Judiciary differs from other political actors because it does not need the electorate, it is similar in terms of the need to provide transparency in their decisions, in order to achieve institutional legitimacy. In the Brazilian case, there is constantly an externalization of messages directed at symbols of justice, objectivity and impartiality and, since mid-2000’s, there has been an increase in the transparency of that institution, with emphasis on the televised transmission of its plenary sessions and a detailed institutional page containing news and entire content of rulings. Considering that, in a comparative perspective, the constitutional court has become extremely exposed, one wonders: is there an institutional selectivity in relation to their decisions? In order to answer this question, press releases from the STF and judicial decisions were observed, in a time frame from 2000 to 2016. The research used mixed methods: textual data mining technique and statistics. The results found suggest that there is an intention, constant throughout the time series studied, to emphasize the image of an activist court.