Bolsonaro supporters are not crazy about democracy. But they are not alone

In March 1964, then-President João Goulart tried to show that he had popular support for the major reforms he was trying to implement — which included rent control, a wealth tax, land reform, and the nationalization of oil refineries. He managed to gather 200,000 people in Rio de Janeiro.

Six days later, in São Paulo, between 300,000 and 500,000 people turned out for what became known as the March of the Family with God for Freedom, opposing what they feared to be the imminent “red” takeover of Brazil. The demonstration fueled what would happen on April 1, when military officers ousted Mr. Goulart, initiating an authoritarian regime that would last for 21 years.

Current studies indicate that the support for the conservative agenda was incited by significant contributions from business groups, which financed a McCarthyist-style anti-communist campaign and instilled fear for the loss of traditional family values. 

It was the seed fit for an already fertilized soil. Brazilian society has always been, in essence, traditionally conservative. This became clearer during a few moments in recent history that presented the right conditions for this characteristic to take hold: 1964 and, more recently, with the election of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

This is the argument of Oswaldo Amaral, political scientist at the University of Campinas and one of the authors of the “Face of Democracy” survey, by the think tank Institute for Democracy.

Last month, The Brazilian Report published a glimpse of the study, according to which twice as many Brazilians self-declare as right-wing, compared...