Abstract
This chapter analyzes Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency in Brazil using two interpretations of the concept of populism: the ideational approach (thin-centered ideology) and the political style approach. The author is interested in the way in which the Brazilian president associates a populist rhetoric aimed at disrupting the political game (politics) and populist practices aimed at breaking the classical patterns of democratic representation and reorienting public action (policies). Bolsonaro’s populist style is rooted in a radical ideological base that has polarized Brazilian society and rattled the political community (polity). The author first shows how the representation of the world underlying Bolsonaro’s populism was structured during his personal trajectory, until his victory in the 2018 presidential election. It then presents some features of the populist rhetoric Bolsonaro has developed since he took office as President of Brazil (January 2019). Finally, it assesses the way in which Bolsonaro exercises power and exerts pressure on the main democratic institutions of his country. The author thus highlights the existence of an intimate link between Bolsonaro’s populist style and the authoritarian temptation that drives him.
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Notes
- 1.
The video is available on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-tkPPwT9Xw, accessed May 31, 2021.
- 2.
Pastor Everaldo was imprisoned in August 2020 for corruption and moneylaundering during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- 3.
Jair Bolsonaro’s website: https://www.bolsonaro.com.br/.
- 4.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center (https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html, accessed May 31, 2021).
- 5.
“Governismo em plenário,” Congresso em Foco-Radar do Congresso, 19 November 2020 (https://radar.congressoemfoco.com.br/governismo/camara, accessed May 31, 2021).
- 6.
Contrary to what its name might suggest, the centrão group (“big center”) gathers the political parties that are situated to the right of the Brazilian political spectrum and associated with traditional politics (pejoratively described as “old politics”). In 2020, it was mainly composed of the following parties: Progressista Party- (40 deputies in Congress), Republicans (31 deputies), Solidarity (14 deputies), Brazilian Labor Party (12 deputies). Other political forces ally with them in certain configurations: Social Democratic Party (36 deputies), Brazilian Democratic Movement (34 deputies), Democrats (28 deputies), Republican Party of the Social Order (10 deputies), etc.
- 7.
The President’s Secretariat of Social Communications—SECOM’s Instagram account, Presidência da República. (www.instagram.com/p/B-xVGBrpB_s/?utm_source=ig_embed, accessed May 31, 2021).
- 8.
An initial sign of these oppositions was observed concerning relations between China and Brazil: as the government’s ideological wing—led by the Foreign Affairs Minister E. Araújo—suddenly turned its back on China, increasing declarations of hostility, the agro-exporting elites, who have powerful leverage within the government, and the military, were alarmed by the potentially harmful consequences of this diplomatic shift.
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Louault, F. (2022). Populism and Authoritarian Drift: The Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. In: Dieckhoff, A., Jaffrelot, C., Massicard, E. (eds) Contemporary Populists in Power. The Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84079-2_6
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