Abstract:
Topics covered in the issue brief include: Brazil’s history of extractive colonialism and slavery, unequal land distribution and oligarchy, and key twentieth century periods of democracy, military dictatorship, and re-democratization. The brief also provides an in-depth exploration of the post-1985 democratic period of government, including a description of its political system, the rise of Lula, Dilma Rousseff, and the PT (Workers’ Party), and Brazil’s ongoing challenges with steep inequality. The document also describes relevant aspects of modern Brazil’s economy, including commodity booms and recessions, its high debt load, and the power of its many state-owned enterprises.
This issue brief is designed as a companion document to the case "Milestone or misstep? Corruption, Development, and Democracy after Brazil’s Lava Jato Probe" (HKS 2290.0). The teaching plan associated with this issue brief assumes the instructor will use both documents in tandem.
Learning Objectives:
• Explore the key characteristics of Brazil’s history, economy and political institutions that have facilitated pervasive corruption.
• Apply multiple analytical frameworks to examine the deep causes and the proximate causes of corruption in Brazil.
• Evaluate the limits of democracy, in particular its capacity to build strong institutions, foster economic progress, ensure accountability, and inhibit corruption.
• Generalize these lessons to a global level, noting the many shared characteristics between Brazil and other Latin American countries in (or approaching) the “middle-income trap.”
