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Technology, the Military, and Democracy in Brazil
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
Extract
Brazil Entered the 1990s with its transition from authoritarian rule incomplete. The gradual withdrawal of the armed forces from power brought an end to over two decades of direct military rule in 1985, paving the way for a new constitution and the first presidential election in nearly 30 years. These formal democratizing changes were erected, however, on a foundation of socio-economic structures and political institutions with some decidedly non-democratic features. As a result, Brazilian politics retains some important vestiges of authoritarianism. Pre-existing centers of power in society remain extraordinarily influential within the emerging system, frequently operating beyond the reach of even nominal democratic control or oversight.
If events of the 1980s did not completely transform Brazilian politics, they did redefine the main challenge of the political transition. The initial problem of replacing the military government with a civilian regime has given way to a second, less tangible, task of consolidating democratic institutions and procedures (O'Donnell, 1988).
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , Spring 1992 , pp. 141 - 178
- Copyright
- Copyright © University of Miami 1992
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