Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Brazil: Reversal of Fortune - by Montero, Alfred P.

2015; Wiley; Volume: 35; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/blar.12429

1470-9856

Mary Arends‐Kuenning,

Montero, Alfred P. (2014) Brazil: Reversal of Fortune, Polity Press ( Cambridge), ix + 241 pp. £53.83 hbk., £16.55 pbk. Brazil became a focus of global attention as it ascended into the ranks of the world's largest economies and hosted the 2014 soccer World Cup. From 2000 until recent years, the economy grew rapidly. Inequality and poverty rates fell impressively after 2000. After a rocky return to democracy in 1985, Brazil now has a stable and functional government. However, in 2013, the world was taken by surprise when millions of Brazilians took to the streets to protest their government's policies. A recent book by Alfred Montero explains how Brazil achieved great progress in the economic and social spheres, but yet Brazilians remain discontented. Montero focuses on three aspects of the Brazilian experience: governability, good policy and the quality of democracy. Governability refers to how political actors work together to make policy. In 1993, many observers viewed Brazil as ungovernable because of political scandals, rampant inflation, and crime. Since 1994, governability gradually improved, and Montero argues that the Brazilian government functions well. Power changed hands between the centre-right Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB, Brazilian Social Democratic Party) and the leftist Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT, Workers Party), but good policies were continued over the transition. Good policies included macroeconomic stability, control of inflation, state support of Brazilian industry through the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES, Brazilian National Development Bank), and the Bolsa Família (family allowance) social welfare programme. In Chapter 2, Montero does an excellent job covering Brazil's economic and political history from 1985 to the present. The key personalities are President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2003) and his successor President Luis Inácio da Silva (Lula) (2003–2011). Cardoso's Real Plan brought down inflation in 1994, and subsequent policies kept inflation under control. Lula's decision to continue Cardoso's market-based economic policies provided the conditions for a decade of impressive economic growth. However, The Cardoso and Lula administrations were not as successful in dealing with transparency and corruption. Chapter 3 focuses on the political science literature that seeks to explain how the Brazilian government functions. The model of coalitional presidentialism describes how the president shares power by giving cabinet posts to leaders in the allied parties in the assembly. Montero argues that the model is limited. Scholars have over studied the relationship between the legislature and the presidency. The movement of Brazilian political parties from the left and the right towards the centre may also explain improved governability. However, Montero does not explain what caused these moves to the centre. Because of its focus on academic debates, this chapter will appeal mostly to political scientists. Chapter 4 focuses on the quality of Brazil's democracy. Although citizens' participation has increased, power remains vested in a small elite. The accountability of politicians has improved due to institutions such as federal and state auditors, but because of a weak judiciary system, wrong doers go unpunished. In a memorable Brazilian saying, ‘Everything ends in pizza’. This wide-ranging chapter discusses federal oversight institutions, campaign finance, the judiciary, the military and federal police, the media, the electorate, popular movements and civil society organisations. The discussion about how civil society organisations affect policy is especially interesting. Chapter 5 focuses on Brazilian industrial policy, particularly the role of the BNDES, which provides one-fifth of the finance for the private sector. Montero presents interesting data from his research on BNDES's policies and loan portfolios, concluding that BNDES played an important role in Brazil's rapid economic growth from 2000 and in Brazil's ability to weather the 2008 global recession. A shortcoming of the chapter is that it does not address criticism of the BNDES. Is the BNDES free of accusation of corruption, given that it is such a large institution making large loans to large corporations? If it has operated free from corruption, how has BNDES managed to police itself? Chapter 6 highlights Brazil's achievements in alleviating poverty and decreasing inequality. Innovative social programmes such as the Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer programme were effective at reaching Brazil's poor. However, pension policy, health insurance policy, and other policies primarily benefit those who are relatively well off. Improving the quality of public education for the poor is a challenge, although the trends in exam scores and in access are going in the right direction. Montero notes that social policies are not transformative and do not focus on work. Montero has written an impressive, comprehensive book about the political economy of Brazil since 1985. He is cautiously optimistic about Brazil's future and careful to point out complexities and contradictions. However, the writing is at times repetitive, as shown in the final chapter, which is mostly a restatement of his previous arguments. The individual chapters are suitable for use in undergraduate courses in Brazilian or Latin American studies.