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Taming the Oligarchs: Lessons from Brazil?

Taming the Oligarchs: Lessons from Brazil?. Hacia la reconstrucción del país Universidad Javeriana Wendy Hunter University of Texas–Austin. Brazil in the 1980s. Congress had many members from military era Pres. Sarney had oligarchic profile, Collor also

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Taming the Oligarchs: Lessons from Brazil?

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  1. Taming the Oligarchs:Lessons from Brazil? Hacia la reconstrucción del país Universidad Javeriana Wendy Hunter University of Texas–Austin

  2. Brazil in the 1980s • Congress had many members from military era • Pres. Sarney had oligarchic profile, Collor also • Left (including PT) was weak at all levels • Most governors were conservative • Much violence in the countryside over land • Rule of law was weak • Potential veto players were strong • Few strong federal social policies: social benefits seen as a “favors” not “rights” • The poorest Brazilians favored the political right

  3. Brazil Today • Few political remnants of the military regime • President is from PT, an institutionalized left party • Left is much stronger at all levels • PT has even won governorships in Northeast • Demobilization of conflict in countryside • Stronger sense of rule of law (MinistérioPúblico) • No veto players threaten to disrupt democracy • There are important federal social policies that people see as rights not favors and that give them autonomy • Most poor Brazilians vote for the PT in presidency

  4. How did Brazil Get to Where it is Now? • The political right declined gradually, thanks in part to malapportionment • The land reform question, while not solved, was depoliticized through measures of FHC • Lula (2003-10) distances self from MST and adopts idea within the PT that the poor do not like disorder • Federalization of social policy (e.g. BolsaFamília) together with minimum wage rises and credit pulls poor people away from clientelistic networks • Deliberate strategy of PT to win support in urban areas of poor states. Over time this erodes clientelism in the state, especially if the PT can win governorships.

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