People shout slogans during a protest against the fare hike on public transportation in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine) It is not hard to see that Brazil, close to consummating a presidential impeachment, is going through a difficult political moment. At the same time, the relationship of Brazilian civil society with democracy and institutional politics also faces a turbulent phase, marked by tensions and conflicts, but also a phase that opens space for valuable experiments in the search for ways out of the crisis.
Three decades after the redemocratization of the country, the coalition government model based on the exchange of favors between parties and politicians who make up the executive and legislative powers has reached its limit. Commitments made by actors of the political class with their peers, and with the companies that legally and illegally fund their activities, got to a level of depth and complexity that makes it virtually impossible to govern for the people. To get to power and stay there, one must rule in favor of the interests of the political class and of those who invest millions in it.
Not by chance, this happens at the same time that policies that improve the living conditions of the poor without directly affecting the interests of the rich reach their limits too. We have seen the success of the important, but limited, economic and social policies that reduced poverty and inequality without tinkering much with the elites – such as the Bolsa Família cash transfer program and the universal public health system. Now it is time for measures such as quotas and reforms in the unfair tax structure that takes more from those with lower income. So tougher disputes – and frustrations – arise in society and in the political life.
