SJS 8: "Brazil in the Crucible of Crisis"

Source:

Taylor, Matthew M. "Brazil in the Crucible of Crisis." Current History Feb. 2016: 68-74. Print.

Author Bio:

Matthew M. Taylor is a professor that focuses his studies on state capacity, corruption, and Latin American political economy with degrees from both Princeton University and Georgetown University. He worked and lived in Brazil as a facalty member at the University of Sao Paulo from 2006 to 2011. Taylor has published many documents that focus on Brazil and the current situation of the country. Matthew Taylor has a large amount of first hand experience in Brazil which gives him a solid first hand view of the situation that is currently taking place in the country. He is able to discover the corruption and false representation in the country from a first hand viewpoint giving him a substantial background for his documents and arguments.

Summary:

The current state of Brazil is currently deteriorating and has been in a large crisis in the recent years. Before Brazil entered this crisis, the country had nearly a decade of growth. This growth can be contributed to four presidents that positively influenced the worker class in the country. Brazil faces political and economic problems caused by an election of a new president and corruption that is occurring in the government system. In 2002, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva was elected as president for Brazil and caused the country to thrive despite a corruption scandal that was occurring which involved payments to legislators to ensure continued support. After Lula, Dilma Rousseff became president of Brazil with the support of Lula. Brazil began to decrease in their growth and there were protests against the corruption and overspending of the government. This is evident during the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the country spent too much money on the tournament then what the public wanted and government should have allowed. Many scandals took place during Rousseff’s term in presidency. Payments were given to powerful government officials to ensure support of the system in place. Rousseff made no attempt to stop the corruption taking place in Brazil and the public began to take notice. The president of the Chamber of Duties, Eduardo Cunha defeated the government’s candidate in the election for that position. Rousseff wanted to file ethics charges against Cunha however never pulled the trigger in fear that he would expose her corruption in court effectively taking them both out of government positions. Impeachment would be very difficult to pass since there are supporters of Rousseff that could veto the request. The majority of the public is treated very differently in Brazil compared to the elites due to the corruption taking place in the country. The elites are able to find loopholes and bargain out of legal issues consistently. Recent court trials have been able to change parts of the system to better improve the system however it is still very evident. The proactivity of the judges and prosecutors have been able to pressure the current system in place and lead to changes in the future. The crisis in Brazil is still dynamic and evolving overtime because of the developing economic, political, and legal plans in the country.

Analysis:

Corruption is currently a large issue in many developing countries. Matthew Taylor clearly explains how Brazil is having issues and has found itself in a crisis. Taylor uses many details about the corruption in the country mainly after the election of Dilma Rousseff as the president of the country. Many scandals and misrepresentation have been used to maintain the power in the country through bribery and purposefully placing supports in higher government positions. Taylor also explains how judges and prosecutors have also led to some improvements but the elite are still able to avoid legal issues and have much more representation in the government. Matthew Taylor’s background and education allows him to provide an accurate representation on the corruption and status in Brazil.