Professor and political scientist José Alvaro Moises, in this edition of his column, provides an overview of the trajectory of democratic regimes over the past few decades. Three decades ago, according to the definition of a political scientist, the third wave of democratization was noted on the planet, characterized by a complex of anti-authoritarian transformations that arose on the wave of the collapse of the Soviet model. Less than 30 years later, however, the picture has changed, signaling a reversal of earlier democratic expansion and putting liberal democracy on the defensive. More importantly, it signaled the beginning of a new wave of political change, “this time provoking the opposite effect of the previous one, that is, opening up space for the weakening of liberal ideas and principles, and placing at the center of the scenario leaders who seek to establish themselves as guarantors of political regimes of their countries. The observer cites the cases of Russia with Putin, Venezuela with Chavez and Maduro, and Turkey with Erdogan, a trend that also affects European Union countries such as Poland and Hungary, which were previously considered examples of democratization. Europe.

In Latin America, according to Alvaro Moises, in addition to Venezuela Chavismo, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and, most recently, Brazil with Jair Bolsonaro, “countries that have increased the centralization of power in the hands of the executive branch have limited the powers of parliament in some cases and are the scene of contested elections. , introducing and restricting the freedom of the press and obstructing the actions of the opposition. The current crisis of democracies or their recession concerns situations in which, despite the fact that leaders are elected by popular vote, they are the main actors in the process of gradual erosion of democratic rules and institutions, which changes the format of the current regime.

The observer continues: “The origin of these new autocracies, unlike in the past, is not classical coups d’état, but a situation in which autocratic leaders begin to break down the structure of constraints imposed by democratic principles. The usual action of autocrats involves the destruction of the autonomy of the judiciary and the institutions of supervision and control, and at the same time the obstruction or complete elimination of the opposition. Alvaro Moises places the current Brazilian government in this scenario. “Bolsonaro is a leader with an authoritarian mentality that belittles basic democratic institutions such as the judiciary, shows disapproval of the principle of separation of powers, and encourages political intolerance among his supporters. In this sense, the president’s attacks on the electoral system, the advancement of the still unproven hypothesis of falsification, sounds like a preparation to challenge the results in case he loses the election. Many analysts call it preparations for a coup that will only be stopped if there is a reaction from democratic institutions and civil society, and if the armed forces behave in accordance with what is written in the Brazilian Constitution.”

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