Brazil - the rise and fall of democratic developmentalism

Abstract

The impeachment of the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff in August 2016 brought to an end a political movement linked to the Workers' Party (Partido dos Traba/hadores, PT) and its leader Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula, as he was commonly known, had become president in January 2003 and was succeeded in 2010 by his chief secretary Dilma. The nearly 14 years in power of what has been termed Lulismo government provides a compelling case study for scholars of democratic developmental states. To that end, this chapter attempts to provide analytical insight into the essence of Lulismo, its sociohistorical genesis, and its broad government policy objectives, which are examined according to their political, social, and economic implications, and whose combined effect we have termed democratic neo-developmentalism. The section that follows begins with an assessment of the similarities and differences between old and new forms of developmentalism in Brazil. This is followed by a discussion on the transformation of what has been termed Petismo into Lulismo and its implications for democracy. The primary focus of the chapter, however, is on the purported success of neo-developmentalism, which will be assessed in terms of its achievements in transforming society and the economy, and in transforming the cities.