Brazil: The Costs of Multiparty Presidentialism (original) (raw)

Inside the Car Wash: The Narrative of a Corruption Scandal in Brazil

2016

In March 2014 a corruption scandal emerged in Brazil with unprecedented political and judicial repercussions. Dubbed the ‘Car Wash’ (Lava Jato in Portuguese), the investigation has uncovered large-scale bribery, kickbacks, and money laundering involving the state-run oil company Petrobras. This paper looks in depth at the mechanics involved in the corruption flows, presenting a theoretical model to discuss the links between campaign finance, state capture, political exploitation, and overcharged public contracts channelled back to campaigns, politicians, parties and senior bureaucrats. Although dozens of high profile politicians and businessmen have now been jailed, one of the major repercussions of this investigation is the Brazilian Supreme Court decision to ban corporate donations to electoral campaigns. Using analytical narrative based on secondary data analysis, such as campaign finance records, government payments orders, and police and prosecutors’ reports, this paper also qu...

Carwash operation and the complex mechanism of political corruption in Brazil Introduction 2

2020

This article analyzes the relationship between the governance structures of hidden exchange networks as well as the regulation and protection mechanisms of the corrupt system. It is assumed that the actors interact in a complex network of corrupt exchanges based on an informal system of behavioral rules. The empirical material that serves as the basis for this discussion constitutes the extensive set of legal and journalistic data produced from the "Carwash" operation. The analysis showed that it is, on the one hand, a systemic corruption and, on the other hand, networks whose governance structure is centrifugal. Contrary to what the legal narrative of the operation affirmed, the Brazilian case demonstrates a polycentric system with a high capacity to develop autonomous networks. Resumo: Este artigo analisa a relação entre as estruturas de governança das redes de trocas ocultas e os mecanismos de regulação e proteção do sistema corrupto. Parte-se do princípio que os atores...

Inside the Car Wash: From the Narrative of a Corruption Scandal in Brazil to a 'Campaign Finance Quid Pro Quo' Model

In March 2014 a corruption scandal emerged in Brazil with unprecedented political and judicial repercussions. Dubbed the 'Car Wash' (Lava Jato in Portuguese), the investigation has uncovered large-scale bribery, kickbacks, and money laundering involving the state-run oil company Petrobras. This paper looks in depth at the mechanics involved in the corruption flows, presenting a theoretical model to discuss the links between campaign finance, state capture, political exploitation, and overcharged public contracts channelled back to campaigns, politicians, parties and senior bureaucrats. Although dozens of high profile politicians and businessmen have now been jailed, one of the major repercussions of this investigation is the Brazilian Supreme Court decision to ban corporate donations to electoral campaigns. Employing what the Car Wash has told us about how corporate corruption works in Brazil, the final part of this paper turns to considering how the sudden absence of corporate electoral donations is likely to play out. Using analytical narrative based on secondary data analysis, such as campaign finance records, government payments orders, and police and prosecutors' reports, this paper also questions whether this decision has an impact on corruption. It remains unclear whether, and if so how, the banning of corporate donations will work as an effective deterrent of campaign finance fraud. 1. Petrobras: from a darling exception to another politically captured SOE Petrobras, the Brazilian state-controlled oil company, was once defined as 'the most autonomous and corporately coherent organisation within the state enterprise system' (Evans 1992:172). Indeed, the Brazilian state-giant corporation used to be referred to as a 'darling exception' (Almeida and Zagaris 2015:87) when its performance was compared to the common deficiencies of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which are often politically captured in order to maximize particularistic interests as well as dragged into distrust because of a lack of efficiency and profitability.

Electoral corruption unfolded by Operation Car Wash and political rights in Brazil

Public Administration and Policy

PurposeThis article aims to advance the literature on the effects of corruption and its relationship to human rights violations. The article also presents an overview of existing legislative measures as well as those expected to be implemented at the national level to tackle corruption and its impacts on fundamental rights.Design/methodology/ approachThe study draws on the literature that addresses the relation between corruption and human rights, and analyses a single well-known case in Brazil (Operation Car Wash) in order to discuss both the violation of citizens’ political rights and of those being investigated.FindingsThe article suggests that the Brazilian State has failed to guarantee fundamental rights as well as to effectively control electoral corruption. By exploring the complex structure of illegal campaign financing in Brazil, the article exposes how Operation Car Wash evidenced the violation of both of the right to participate public affairs and to vote in authentic ele...

From the Banestado Case to Operation Car Wash: Building an Anti-Corruption Institutional Framework in Brazil *

2021

The article analyzes the development process of a new anti-corruption institutionality in Brazil, based mainly on judicial tools and on the legal system – police officers, prosecutors, and judges – that finds its highest expression during the Operation Car Wash. The hypothesis is that the new anti-corruption institutionality was built in the first term through justice policies coordinated by the Federal government, but was taken over by the Public Prosecution’s Office and the Judiciary. The article highlights the main characteristics of the new anti-corruption institutionality and introduces its historical construction, frame by frame, based on the evolution of task forces in Brazil from the Banestado Case to Operation Car Wash.

Punishing Corruption: The Impact of Corruption Allegations in the 2006 Brazilian

2008

Punishing Corruption: The Impact of Corruption Allegations in the 2006 Brazilian Abstract: Are corrupt politicians in Brazil punished at the ballot box? To answer this question I will take a look at the 2006 Brazilian congressional elections and use the results to compare it to previous research on U.S. congressional elections. I argue that, as in the case of U.S. incumbents accused of corruption, Brazilian members of

Political Corruption Cases in Brazil in 21 st Century

Political Corruption Cases in Brazil in 21 st Century, 2020

The Diploma thesis approaches the issue of corruption cases in Brazil in the 21st century. The first part covers a theoretical background of corruption, and description of international institutions and their anti-corruption agenda and instruments. The second part of the thesis part aims to analyse most extensive political corruption scandals in the government of Brazil since 2000; moreover, it examines changes in the legal framework and political environment; results of ongoing prosecution of high-level politicians, as well as the impacts on political situation

Political Corruption Cases in Brazil in 21 st Century DIPLOMA THESIS

Brno 2020 iv Declaration I declare that I carried out this diploma thesis titled, Political Corruption Cases in Brazil in 21 st century independently under the guidance of Mgr. Martin Hrabálek, Ph.D., and only with the cited sources, literature and other professional sources of information mentioned in the enclosed list.

Brazil: Corruption as a Mode of Rule

NACLA, 2019

Tracing the roots of political corruption in Brazil from Vargas to Bolsonaro reveals corruption as a political strategy that has long been woven into the fabric of Brazilian politics. Corruption is intrinsically political. These days, it usually refers to the abuse of public office, while anti-corruption initiatives are seen in the media as more or less equivalent to 'good governance.' Corruption is almost universally regarded as a bad thing, and as a result it is exceptionally rare for a politician to embrace the label of being corrupt. Deeming those bequeathed with public power as 'corrupt' calls their legitimacy into question. Consequently, opposition to corruption is never neutral. Anti-corruption often takes the form of a particular nostalgia, based on an assumption that politics was cleaner and more ethical in the past. In effect, opposing corruption promises to rectify what is out of order, rather than proposing an alternative political vision superior to the status quo. Nowhere are the contested politics of corruption and anti-corruption clearer than in Brazil. Brazil is currently locked in a political crisis that A man protests against the imprisonment of Lula in 2018 (MIDIA NINJA/FLICKR) NACLA-rePOrT ON THe Americas | VOL. 51, NO. 2-153-#, http://dx.doi.org/ 153