Podcast

Explaining Brazil #86: The turbulent path of Brazil’s republic

Back in 1995, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said, in his inauguration speech: “Without arrogance, but with absolute conviction, I say: this country is going to work out! Not because of me, but because of us all.” On November 15, the Brazilian Republic celebrated 130 years of its existence. And we ask: was Fernando Henrique right? Has Brazil ‘worked out’?

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On this episode:

Fernando Bizzarro is a Ph.D. researcher in Political Science at Harvard’s Department of Government. His research is focused on the nature, the causes, and the consequences of political institutions, particularly on political parties, regimes, and their impacts on human and economic development.
Filipe Campante is an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He is interested in political economy, development economics, and urban/regional issues. His research looks at what constrains politicians and policymakers beyond formal checks and balances: cultural norms, institutions, media, political protest.

Background reading:

130 years later, Brazil’s Republic remains a “draft,” writes editor in chief Gustavo Ribeiro.
Historian Andre Pagliarini explores comparisons between Jair Bolsonaro and the country’s first republican head of state, Deodoro da Fonseca.
Jair Bolsonaro is not solely to blame for Brazil’s toxic politics, write Jeff Garmany and Anthony Pereira.
Generals remain the ultimate power brokers in Latin America.

Explaining Brazil is made by:

Gustavo Ribeiro, editor in chief of The Brazilian Report. He has extensive experience covering Brazilian politics. His work has been featured across Brazilian and French media outlets, including Veja, Época, Folha de S.Paulo, Médiapart, and Radio France Internationale.
Euan Marshall, editing. is a journalist and translator who has lived in São Paulo, Brazil since 2011. Specializing in Brazilian soccer, politics and the connection between the two, his work has been published in The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, The Independent, among others.

Do you have a suggestion for our next Explaining Brazil podcast? Drop us a line at podcast@brazilian.report