Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Political Dynamics of Presidential Impeachment in Brazil

1996; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 21; Issue: 41 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/08263663.1996.10816732

2333-1461

Daniel Zirker,

Social and Political Issues

The impeachment of the president of Brazil, Fernando Collor de Mello, in 1992 has been widely acclaimed as Brazil's democratic coming of age. Subsequent events suggest that Brazil may once again be regarded as a political model, this time one of democratization. Nevertheless, the idiosyncratic character of the Collor impeachment requires further examination in this regard. Factors such as a fluid political party system, and, particularly, its ongoing constitutional paradox—in which the president is given the responsibility but not the power to govern, while the congress retains much of the power, but not the responsibility in governance—must be taken into account. While presidential impeachment in Brazil did establish a precedent, the direct challenge to authority that it represents is not unambiguously democratic.