Bolsonarismo: A Rejection of the PT or Right-Wing Cultural Backlash?

For her human rights capstone, Sofia Penglase participated in the course POLISCI 140P: “The Erosion of Democracy” and wrote an analytical paper exploring several potential explanations for the presidential election of Jair Bolsonaro in 2018 and the recent rise of right-wing authoritarianism in Brazil. In her paper, Penglase analyzes political hypotheses proposed to explain the surprising rise to power of a Brazilian right-wing populist with authoritarian tendencies: the public’s desire for law and order, the economic failures of the previous government, the growing hostility towards the Workers’ Party (PT) or antipetismo, and cultural backlash against progressive social change. Furthermore, she notes that corruption, crime, and the economic downturn gave way to a rise in antipetismo, also contributing to Bolsonaro’s eventual victory. The content of this capstone is only accessible to users who have a valid Stanford SUNet ID.