Brazil in Focus

Dilma's fight to control her own government

by Carlos Pereira
Some years ago, the political scientist Samuel Kernell set out to probe the mysteries of presidential popularity. The result was Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership, published in 1997 and which quickly became a classic. In it, Kernell examines leaders who leverage their popularity by appealing directly to the public as a way to legitimize harsh or unpopular measures or legislation, as opposed to executives who rely on more conventional, institutional bargaining mechanisms.

The rewards and risks of conservativism

by Carlos Pereira

When an aircraft reaches cruising altitude, at 10 to 15 thousand meters, we all may kick back and relax as the plane switches to auto-pilot. Not only can we loosen our seatbelts in anticipation of smooth flying ahead, but also count on the aircraft's instruments to automatically bank and turn and correct for any turbulence that may await us. Likewise, countries charting a path to development also face intense periods of change and reform, not least during liftoff, when demands on national attention and energy are highest. And yet these are precisely windows of opportunity, rare moments in history when a nation may recast its institutions to chart a new political and economic course.

It may not be pretty, but it works

By Carlos Pereira

Brazilian democracy has come of age. Elections are free and fair and the courts independent. Brazilian media speaks its mind. In fact for more than two decades democracy has been the only game in town, without a single political actor having broken the rules of engagement. Brazil not only has consolidated its democracy but also managed to achieve macro-economic stability, reduce poverty and inequality, win international credibility, slash unemployment and rise to become the world's sixth-largest economy. And the list of accomplishments doesn't end there.

And Brasilia gives it a push start

by Monica Baumgarten de Bolle
Smell that burning rubber? Did you hear the brakes shriek as the Brazilian jalopy lurched to a halt? Hey, weren't we supposed to be a Cadillac? 

The Brazilian economy stopped growing in the third quarter, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). No surprise there, despite the high decibell newspaper headlines. The Central Bank's monthly economic activity index, the IBC-Br, already had foretold a sharp slowdown. What rattled the financial commentariat, however, was the sharp fall in consumer spending, the first such slump Brazil has seen since late 2008, when the global economy skidded off the cliff under a mountain of debt. Why is consumer spending - the motor of Brazilian growth for the last four years - suddenly stalling?

Brazil is on a roll but can it last?

by Walter Molano

Nothing is ever done on a small scale in Brazil. With among the biggest rivers, rain forests and soccer stadiums on the planet, it is no wonder that Brazilian egos tend to be colossal. Other than tragic fate, little seems to check the Amazonian ambitions of the new entrepreneurs who are reshaping the county's destiny. World class fortunes are being erected on the back of energy, finance and construction. At the same time, an intricate network of politicians, corporate titans and bankers are incubating a new version of statist capitalism.