You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Building Democracy in Brazil is an empirical analysis of the constitution-making process that Brazil underwent in the 1980s as it moved from an authoritarian military regime to a democratic civilian government. The study explores the institutional and political context from which the process departed as well as the choices of the key social and political actors. It then examines in depth the different stages of the constitutional elaboration.
Wendy Hunter explores civil-military relations in Brazil following the transition to civilian leadership in 1985. She documents a marked, and surprising, decline in the political power of the armed forces, even as they have remained involved in national policy making. To account for the success of civilian politicians, Hunter invokes rational-choice theory in arguing that politicians will contest even powerful forces in order to gain widespread electoral support. Many observers expected Brazil's fledgling democracy to remain under the firm direction of the military, which had tightly controlled the transition from authoritarian to civilian rule. Hunter carefully refutes this conventional wisdom by demonstrating the ability of even a weak democratic regime to expand its autonomy relative to a once-powerful military, thanks to the electoral incentives that motivate civilian politicians. Based on interviews with key participants and on extensive archival research, Hunter's analysis of developments in Brazil suggests a more optimistic view of the future of civilian democratic rule in Latin America.
A union list of serials commencing publication after Dec. 31, 1949.
Many countries have experimented with different electoral rules in order either to increase involvement in the political system or make it easier to form stable governments. Barry Ames explores this important topic in one of the world's most populous and important democracies, Brazil. This book locates one of the sources of Brazil's "crisis of governance" in the nation's unique electoral system, a system that produces a multiplicity of weak parties and individualistic, pork-oriented politicians with little accountability to citizens. It explains the government's difficulties in adopting innovative policies by examining electoral rules, cabinet formation, executive-legislative conflict, party...
A obra que apresentamos ao público se propõe a refletir sobre o passado constitucional brasileiro no período republicano. Os textos do livro, escritos por professores/as e pesquisadoras/es que integram ou colaboram com o grupo de pesquisa "Percursos, Fragmentos, Narrativas", da Universidade de Brasília (UnB), reivindicam à nossa história constitucional um papel de destaque para compreendermos os desafios postos no presente, no campo da política, do direito e da sociedade. A história constitucional coloca no centro das suas indagações a Constituição, entendida como documento que responde às demandas de organização das sociedades modernas, que estrutura a comunicação entre o direito e a política, que interage com as ideologias e projetos de poder, com os diferentes anseios e disputas entre atores e sujeitos na vida social. Por isso, em variados recortes e temporalidades, as pesquisas falam sobre como nos constituímos como comunidade política e jurídica.
An inaugural volume in the International Library of Policy Analysis series, this book brings together eighteen leading Brazilian social scientists who paint the first comprehensive portrait of policy analysis in Brazil. Their contributions trace policy analysis from the 1930s, when it emerged as a tool of Brazilian state building, through the 1980s, when increasing democratization began to allow for citizen participation in public management. Ultimately, policy analysis emerges as a multifaceted activity pursued in an array of contexts, and through a variety of methods, by both governmental and non-governmental actors.
Culling the Masses questions the view that democracy and racism cannot coexist. Based on records from 22 countries 1790-2010, it offers a history of the rise and fall of racial selection in the Western Hemisphere, showing that democracies were first to select immigrants by race, and undemocratic states first to outlaw discrimination.
Jeffrey Lesser's invaluable book tells the poignant and puzzling story of how earlier this century, in spite of the power of anti-Semitic politicians and intellectuals, Jews made their exodus to Brazil, "the land of the future." What motivated the Brazilian government, he asks, to create a secret ban on Jewish entry in 1937 just as Jews desperately sought refuge from Nazism? And why, just one year later, did more Jews enter Brazil legally than ever before? The answers lie in the Brazilian elite's radically contradictory images of Jews and the profound effect of these images on Brazilian national identity and immigration policy. Lesser's work reveals the convoluted workings of Brazil's wartime immigration policy as well as the attempts of desperate refugees to twist the prejudices on which it was based to their advantage. His subtle analysis and telling anecdotes shed light on such pressing issues as race, ethnicity, nativism, and nationalism in postcolonial societies at a time when "ethnic cleansing" in Europe is once again driving increasing numbers of refugees from their homelands.