Brazilian Democracy under Lula and the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT)

With exams out of the way it’s great to be able have the time to finally attend some of the seminars that my Institute put on. (Events at the Institute of the Americas)

Yesterday saw David Samuels, a professor from the University of Minnesota, give a talk on the state of Brazilian democracy under President Lula and the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT).

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, popularly known as Lula, successfully ran for President in 2002 – this was his 4th attempt - and was re-elected again in 2006. The fact that a boisterous, and a once imprisoned trade union leader from a humble background could rise to become the President of Brazil is nothing short of remarkable given the elitist domain that is Brazilian national politics. The symbolism of this ‘rags to riches’ tale will undoubtedly have a lasting effect on Brazilian democracy and across the region (Evo Morales’ rise to the Presidential palace in Bolivia has followed a somewhat similar route).

So Lula and the PT entered office with 3 basic principles that were meant to reformulate and transform Brazilian democracy:
· Popular Participation
· An inversion of governmental priorities (i.e. an agenda that focuses on social justice)
· Ethical governance (i.e. and end to corruption)

However as David Samuels was at pains to stress, Lula has neither transformed Brazilian democracy, nor undertaken the structural reforms that he and the PT had been promising whilst they were in opposition.

With regards to fighting social injustice, Lula may well have introduced the very successful and innovative Bolsa Familia programme (here’s a link that tells you what it is all about) but there has yet to be any implementation of major universalistic social reform programmes a la Chavismo. Perhaps he hasn’t needed to given the benefits the Brazilian economy is reaping from the expansion of the global economy. As the neo-liberal ethos goes, perhaps wealth really is trickling down in Brazil.

David Samuels spent most of his time however, detailing how the Lula government has been marred by corruption and has put paid to the belief that Lula and the PT was ever serious about ethical governance. I don’t want to bore anyone with the details but there have been loads. But hey this is South America isn’t it? Don’t we come to expect this type of thing? Well it seems as if the Brazilian electorate kind of think that way. Despite all the corruption that marred the PT’s first term in office, Lula remains as popular as ever – the Teflon President per excellence.

Many people viewed Lula and the PT with rose-tinted glasses before they entered power. Much of the romanticism has been lost. However as long as Brazil’s economy surges forward, as long as they can remain branded as part of ‘the Good Left’ internationally, it seems that the Lula and the PT will remain in office for quite some time.

Unfortunately this has come at the cost of the admirably high standards the PT had promised to bring with it into Brazilian Democracy.

The PT didn’t change the political system, the system changed the PT.