In theory, the vice president is little more than a symbolic figure in Brazilian politics. A president’s running mate is often used as a way of giving prestige to allied parties and the office itself is largely ignored by the public, having virtually no institutional responsibilities other than being an emergency “just-in-case” option.
In reality, however, that is not the case.
Of Brazil’s 38 presidents, eight of them took the job after being elected vice president and seeing the top job vacated for a number of reasons, be it death, resignation, or impeachment. Since the country’s return to...
