Ahead of 2022, anti-partisanship is a looming risk for Brazil

Six would-be Brazilian presidential candidates published a letter in defense of democracy last week, with the goal of creating a centrist alliance to challenge President Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 elections. What is most notable about this joint manifesto is the absence of political parties, particularly enlightening as the country experiences a growing wave of “anti-partisanship,” with more and more voters having no party allegiance of their own, while showing animosity toward at least one Brazilian political party.

In a 2018 book, political scientists David Samuel and Cesar Zucco highlight that anti-partisanship grew in Brazil between 1998 and 2016, rising from 15.7 to 23.9 percent and giving the country the highest percentage of anti-partisans among 18 nations in Latin America, North America, Asia, and Europe. 

In order to shed light on the behavior of anti-partisans in Brazil, a recent study by Mario Fuks and colleagues investigated this group’s attitudes towards democracy and democratic principles. Their...