Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-gq7q9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T04:38:06.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Collapse of Democracy in Brazil: Its Economic Determinants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2022

Michael Wallerstein
Michael Wallerstein*
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Perhaps the most common generalization linking political systems to other aspects of society has been that democracy is related to the state of economic development. The more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy.

(Lipset 1960, p. 31)

There are few examples in the history of Latin American studies of such generally accepted “facts” that were so contradicted by subsequent events as the association of democratic politics with industrial economies. Lipset's (1960) simple comparative study of Latin American nations in which he found a striking positive correlation between the degree of economic development and the extent of democracy in the late 1950s has been upset. The military coup d'état that abolished democracy in Brazil in 1964 turned out to be not a unique event, but the first of a series of military takeovers throughout the most industrialized nations of South America: Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. For this reason, the study of the demise of electoral politics in Brazil acquires a new significance. And for this reason also, analysts are inclined to attempt explanations in terms of structural causes common to all capitalist nations on the periphery. The purpose of this paper is to examine one set of such explanations: those in which economic conditions play the major role.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , 1980 , pp. 3 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © 1980 by Latin American Research Review

Footnotes

*

I would like to thank Adam Przeworski and Philippe Schmitter for making this paper possible. In addition, I received valuable aid and comments from Argelina Maria Cheibub Figueiredo, Marcus Faria Figueiredo, and Ernest Underhill. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation grant number SOC 78–04595.

References

Ackerman, Frank 1971 “Industry and Imperialism in Brazil.” Review of Radical Political Economics 3, no. 1.Google Scholar
Anuario Estatístico do Brasil 1962–1965 Rio de Janeiro: Fundação IBGE, Instituto Brasileiro de Estatística.Google Scholar
Bacha, Edmar L. 1977 “Issues and Evidence on Recent Brazilian Economic Growth.” World Development 5, no. 1–2.Google Scholar
Baer, Werner 1972 “Import Substitution and Industrialization in Latin America: Experience and Interpretations.” LARR 7, no. 1.Google Scholar
Barnet, Richard J. and MÜLLER, RONALD E. 1974 Global Reach: The Power of the Multinational Corporations. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Bergsman, Joel 1970 Brazil: Industrialization and Trade Policies. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cardoso, Fernando Henrique 1968 “Empresarios industriales y desarrollo nacional en Brasil.” Desarrollo Económico 8, no. 29.Google Scholar
Cardoso, Fernando Henrique and Faletto, E. 1969 Dependencia y desarrollo en América Latina. México: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, S. A.Google Scholar
Chilcote, Ronald 1974 The Brazilian Communist Party: Conflict and Integration, 1922–1972. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Collier, David 1977 “Modernization and Political Change: A Latin American Perspective.” Indiana University: unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
CONFEDERAÇÃO NACIONAL DA INDUSTRIA 1962 “Editorial: A Cepal e a Inflação.” Desenvolvimento e Conjuntura 6, no. 9.Google Scholar
Conjuntura Econômica 1954–1966 February issue of each year. Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Getulio Vargas.Google Scholar
Conjuntura Econômica 1970 February issueGoogle Scholar
DEPARTAMENTO INTERSINDICAL DE ESTATÍSTICA E ESTUDOS SOCIO-ECONÔMICOS (DIEESE) 1970 DIEESE em Resumo 4, no. 3.Google Scholar
Dillon Soares, GlÁUcio Ary 1971 “El sistema electoral y representación de los grupos sociales en Brasil, 1954–1962.” Revista Latinamericana de Ciencia Política 2, no. 1.Google Scholar
Dos Santos, Teotonio 1968a El nuevo carácter de la dependencia. Santiago de Chile: Cuaderno No. 10, Centro de Estudios Socioeconómicos, Facultad de Ciencias Economicas, Universidad de Chile, Imprenta Técnica Ltda.Google Scholar
Dos Santos, Teotonio 1968b “The Changing Structure of Foreign Investment in Latin America,” and “Foreign Investment and Large Enterprise in Latin America: The Brazilian Case.” In James Petras and Maurice Zeitlin, eds., Latin America, Reform or Revolution: A Reader. New York: Fawcett Publications.Google Scholar
Dulles, John W. F. 1970 Unrest in Brazil: Political-Military Crises 1955–1964. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Elster, Jon 1979 “Marxism, Functionalism and Game Theory: A Plea for Methodological Individualism.” Oslo: unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Erickson, Kenneth Paul 1975 “Political Strikes in Brazil 1960–1964: Strengths and Weaknesses of Organized Labor.” New York: Occasional Papers no. 17, Ibero-American Language and Area Center, New York University.Google Scholar
Erickson, Kenneth Paul and Peppe, Patrick V. 1976 “Dependent Capitalist Development, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Repression of the Working Class in Chile and Brazil.” Latin American Perspectives 3, no. 1.Google Scholar
Fishlow, Albert n.d. “The Rise of Brazilian Industrialization Before the Second World War.” Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Furtado, Celso 1965 “Political Obstacles to Economic Growth in Brazil.” In Claudio Veliz, ed., Obstacles to Change in Latin America. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Furtado, Celso 1968 “Brasil: de la República Oligarquica al Estado Militar.” In Celso Furtado et al., Brasil Hoy. México: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, S. A.Google Scholar
Galeano, Eduardo 1969 “The De-Nationalization of Brazilian Industry.” Monthly Review 21, no. 7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, Lincoln and Grommers, Englebert 1962 United States Manufacturing Investment in Brazil: the Impact of Brazilian Government Policies 1946–1960. Boston: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Harding, Timothy 1973 “A Political History of Organized Labor in Brazil.” Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Hirschman, Albert O. 1963 Journeys toward Progress. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2d ed. 1973.Google Scholar
Hirschman, Albert O. 1968 “The Political Economy of Import-Substituting Industrialization in Latin America.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 82. Reprinted in A. O. Hirschman, A Bias for Hope: Essays on Development and Latin America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschman, Albert O. 1977 “The Turn to Authoritarianism in Latin America and the Search for its Economic Determinants.” Unpublished manuscript prepared for the Working Group on the State and Public Policy of the Joint Committee on Latin America, Social Sciences Council and American Council of Learned Societies.Google Scholar
Jaguaribe, Helio 1965 “The Dynamics of Brazilian Nationalism.” In Claudio Veliz, ed., Obstacles to Change in Latin America. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jaguaribe, Helio 1968 “Brasil: Estabilidad Social por el Colonial Fascismo?” In Celso Furtado et al., Brasil Hoy. México: Siglo Veintiuno Editores S. A.Google Scholar
Kahil, Raouf 1973 Inflation and Economic Development in Brazil 1946–1963. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Robert 1977 “Industrial Change and Authoritarian Rule in South America: A Concrete Review of the Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Model.” Unpublished manuscript prepared for the Working Group on the State and Public Policy of the Joint Committee on Latin America, Social Sciences Research Council and American Council of Learned Societies.Google Scholar
Leff, Nathaniel H. 1968 Economic Policymaking and Development in Brazil 1947–1964. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour Martin 1960 Political Man. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Company, Inc.Google Scholar
Malan, Pedro S. and Bonelli, Regis 1977 “The Brazilian Economy in the Seventies: Old and New Developments.” World Development 5, no. 1–2.Google Scholar
Maneschi, Andrea 1972 “The Brazilian Public Sector.” In Riordon Roett, ed., Brazil in the Sixties. Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt University Press.Google Scholar
Martins, Luciano 1965 “Aspectos políticos de la revolución brasileña.” Revista Latino-Americana de Sociología, no. 3.Google Scholar
Marx, Karl 1935 Value, Price and Profit. New York: International Publishers.Google Scholar
Morley, Samuel A. and Smith, Gordon W. 1971 “Import Substitution and Foreign Investment in Brazil.” Oxford Economic Papers 23, no. 1.Google Scholar
Nun, JosÉ 1967 “The Middle Class Military Coup.” In Claudio Veliz, ed., The Politics of Conformity in Latin America. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
O'DONNELL, GUILLERMO A. 1972 Modernización y autoritarismo. Buenos Aires: Editorial Paidos.Google Scholar
O'DONNELL, GUILLERMO A. 1975 “Reflexiones sobre las tendencias generales de cambio en el estado burocratico-autoritario.” Buenos Aires: Documento CEDES/G.E. CLACSO/ no. 1, Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad.Google Scholar
O'DONNELL, GUILLERMO A. 1977 “Corporatism and the Question of the State.” In James Malloy, ed., Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Latin America. Pittsburgh, Penn.: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Payer, Cheryl 1974 The Debt Trap: The International Monetary Fund and the Third World. New York: Monthly Review Press.Google Scholar
Prebisch, RaÚL 1961 “Economic Development of Monetary Stability: The False Dilemma.” Economic Bulletin for Latin America 6, no. 1.Google Scholar
Przeworski, Adam 1979 “Material Bases of Consent: Economics and Politics in a Hegemonic System.” Political Power and Social Theory 1.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, JosÉ Albertino 1968 Sindicato e Desenvolvimento no Brasil. São Paulo: Difusão Europeia do Livro.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, Leoncio Martins 1966 Conflito Industrial e Sindicalismo no Brasil. São Paulo: Difusão Europeia do Livro.Google Scholar
Schmitter, Philippe C. 1971 Interest Conflict and Political Change in Brazil. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Serra, JosÉ 1972 “El milagro económico brasileño: realidad o mito?” Revista Latino-Americana de Ciencias Sociales 3.Google Scholar
Skidmore, Thomas E. 1967 Politics in Brazil 1930–1964: An Experiment in Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Skidmore, Thomas E. 1977 “The Politics of Economic Stabilization in Postwar Latin America.” In James Malloy, ed., Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Latin America. Pittsburgh, Penn.: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Stepan, Alfred, ED. 1973 Authoritarian Brazil. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Tavares, Maria ConceiÇÃO 1964 “The Growth and Decline of Import Substitution in Brazil.” Economic Bulletin for Latin America 9, no. 1.Google Scholar
Weffort, Francisco C. 1965a “Estado y masas en el Brasil.” Revista Latinoamericana de sociología 65, no. 1.Google Scholar
Weffort, Francisco C. 1965b “Política de Masas.” In Octavio Ianni et al., Política e Revolução Social no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Civilização Brasileira.Google Scholar
Weffort, Francisco C. 1968 “El populismo en la política brasileña.” In Celso Furtado et al., Brasil Hoy. México: Siglo Veintiuno Editores, S. A.Google Scholar
Weffort, Francisco C. 1972 “Os Sindicatos na Política, 1955–1964.” Chapter 4 of “Sindicatos e Política,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of São Paulo.Google Scholar