Abstract
Brazilian response to Covid-19: Populism, polarization and conflict Brazil has had, until October 2, 2020, 144,966 deaths by Covid-19, ranking second in the world, only trailing the USA. It has been classified as one of the five countries in which its main political leader downplayed the disease and the pandemic (Meyer B. Pandemic populism: an analysis of populist leaders’ responses to Covid-19. Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, London, 2020. [Google Scholar]). In fact, Jair Bolsonaro has been one of the most vocal critics of the World Health Organization recommendations and frequently defied them publicly, by disrespecting in actions and rhetoric social distancing and the use of masks. But Brazil is more complex than that, and subnational variation on response patterns has been varied (Fernandez et al. 2020). In fact, it has followed, to some extent, a growing divide in Brazilian politics between Bolsonaro supporters and critics. This seems to be the new axis of polarization in the country. In this chapter, we explore how the federal government’s response to the pandemic has differed from that conducted in states governed by the opposition, and we then explore if this conflict reverberates in public opinion by analyzing reactions to the pandemic by the public as measured through surveys.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
All websites visited on February 15, 2021
- 2.
Brazil’s GDP decreased by 3.5% and 3.3% in 2015 and 2016, respectively. In 2017 and 2018, yearly growth averaged 1.1%. At the time of the 2018 elections, unemployment affected almost 12% of the workforce.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
During the PT federal administrations (2003–2016), for instance, the major leaders of the opposition were either sitting governors (Geraldo Alckmin, governor of the São Paulo state from 2001 to 2006) or former governors (Aécio Neves, who had governed Minas Gerais from 2003 to 2010). Neves and Alckmin were both affiliated to the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democratic Party), and they disputed presidential elections against PT candidates in 2006 and 2014, respectively.
- 9.
Although the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Wilson Witzel, was formerly a close ally of Bolsonaro and his sons, he soon took distance from the president in order to prepare himself to run for president in 2022. Witzel was impeached under charges of corruption in June, 2020. Since then, the governor of São Paulo, João Doria, also a presidential aspirant, has become the major opponent of Bolsonaro at the state level. Romeu Zema, governor of Minas Gerais, which is Brazil’s most populous state after São Paulo, has tended to side with Bolsonaro (or to remain neutral), in part due to the state’s calamitous fiscal situation and dependence on the goodwill of the Ministry of Economy to avoid government shutdown.
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
Translation by the authors: A pandemia do novo coronavírus está levando o SUS (hospitais públicos e unidades de pronto atendimento) ao limite de seu atendimento. Em sua opinião: 1. A pandemia mostra a importância do SUS e justifica um substancial aumento em seu financiamento. 2. O SUS tem se saído bem no enfrentamento do coronavírus (da pandemia) com os recursos que tem e não se justifica um aumento no financiamento. 3. O SUS tem se saído mal no enfrentamento do novo coronavírus (da pandemia) e sua continuidade deveria ser discutida
- 16.
Translation by the authors: O STF determinou que governadores e prefeitos devem ter autonomia para tomar medidas no enfrentamento ao novo coronavírus. Na sua opinião, tais medidas deveriam ficar a cargo: (1) do governo federal; (2) de governadores e prefeitos; (3) depende da situação (não ler).
- 17.
Translation by the authors: Algumas pessoas avaliam que o presidente deu pouca importância ao impacto do novo coronavírus, prejudicando o combate à pandemia no país. O sr(a). Concorda muito, concorda pouco, nem concorda e nem discorda (não ler), discorda pouco ou discorda muito.
- 18.
Translation by the authors: Em função da pandemia de coronavírus, atualmente você: está vivendo normalmente, sem mudar nada na sua rotina; tomando cuidado, mas ainda saindo de casa para trabalhar ou fazer outras atividades; saindo de casa só quando é inevitável ou; está totalmente isolado, sem sair de casa de jeito nenhum.
- 19.
An effect of the pandemic on the municipal elections was the significant decrease in turnout. In the country’s aggregate, abstention went up from 17% in 2016 to 23% in 2020.
- 20.
References
Ajzenman N, Cavalcanti T, Da Mata D (2020) More than words: leaders’ speech and risky behavior during a pandemic. Available at SSRN 3582908
Amaral OED (2020) The Victory of Jair Bolsonaro according to the Brazilian Electoral Study of 2018. Braz Polit Sci Rev 14: e0004
Arretche M (2004) Federalismo e políticas sociais no Brasil: problemas de coordenação e autonomia. São Paulo Perspectiva 18:17–26
Borges A (2021) The illusion of electoral stability: from party system erosion to right-wing populism in Brazil. J Polit Lat Am forthcoming
Borges A, Sanches Filho AO (2016) Federalismo, coalizões de governo e escolhas de carreira dos deputados federais. Opin Pública 22:1–27
Borges A, Albala A, Burtnik L (2017) Pathways to nationalization in multilevel presidential systems: accounting for party strategies in Brazil and Argentina. Publius 47:648–672
Fernandez MV, Pinto HA (2020) Estratégia intergovernamental de atuação dos estados brasileiros: o Consórcio Nordeste e as políticas de saúde no enfrentamento à Covid-19. Saúde em Redes 6:7
Fuks M, Ribeiro E, Borba J (2021) From Antipetismo to generalized antipartisanship: the impact of rejection of political parties on the 2018 vote for Bolsonaro. Braz Polit Sci Rev 15:e0005
Gomes S (2012) Fiscal powers to subnational governments: reassessing the concept of fiscal autonomy. Reg Fed Stud 22:387–406
Hunter W, Power TJ (2019) Bolsonaro and Brazil’s illiberal backlash. J Democr 30:68–82
Mainwaring S (1997) Presidentialism in Brazil: the impact of strong constitutional powers, weak partisan powers, and robust federalism. In: Mainwaring S, Shugart MS (eds) Presidentialism and democracy in Latin America. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Mariani LA, Gagete-Miranda J, Rettl P (2020) Words can hurt: how political communication can change the pace of an epidemic. Covid Econ Vetted Real-Time Pap 12:104–137
Meyer B (2020) Pandemic populism: an analysis of populist leaders’ responses to Covid-19. Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, London. [Google Scholar]
Moffitt B (2015) How to perform crisis: a model for understanding the key role of crisis in contemporary populism. Gov Oppos 50:189–217
Niedzwiecki S, Chapman Osterkatz S, Hooghe L et al (2018) The RAI travels to Latin America: measuring regional authority under regime change. Reg Fed Stud 31:1–26
Pappas TS (2019) Populists in power. J Democr 30:70–84
Rennó L (2020) The Bolsonaro voter: issue positions and vote choice in the 2018 Brazilian Presidential Elections. Lat Am Polit Soc 62:1
Samuels D (2003) Ambition, federalism, and legislative politics in Brazil. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Santos FG, Pegurier FJ (2011) Political careers in Brazil: long-term trends and cross-sectional variation. Reg Fed Stud 21:165–183
Souza C (1997) Constitutional engineering in Brazil: the politics of federalism and decentralization. Macmillan, London
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Borges, A., Rennó, L. (2021). Brazilian Response to Covid-19: Polarization and Conflict. In: Fernandez, M., Machado, C. (eds) COVID-19's political challenges in Latin America. Latin American Societies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77602-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77602-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-77601-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-77602-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)