Social status and de-constituent process in Brazil

Abstract

Dilma Rousseff's impeachment produced a process of de-structuring an institutionality under development after the 1988 Constitution. Brazil was experiencing a moment of institution-building and the affirmation of democratic methods in overcoming conflicts. The instrumental use of the impeachment became evident when comparing the National Congress's behavior in Dilma Rousseff's impeachment process and Michel Temer's later impeachment attempts. The post impeachment government carried out structural reforms with virtually no popular support. This agenda continues in Bolsonaro's Government. These are constitutional, legislative, or administrative reforms that meet an agenda of big business that would have difficulty, in the short term, in getting a candidate or party to succeed in a presidential election. The attack aims to social rights, with a budget freeze that hits the financing of services and reform of labor legislation, accompanied by administrative measures that favor employers. There is a reversal of the social nature of the Constitution.