The republic in crisis and future possibilities

摘要

This text gives a brief reconstruction of the process of impeachment of Brazila??s President Dilma Rousseff, which was a a??coupa?? effected through parliament, and situates it at the end of three periods of politics in the Brazilian republic: the first, broader, and democratizing; the second, the age of the PT (Workersa?? Party) as the force with the hegemony on the left; and the third, shorter, the cycle of its governments. Together, these phases constitute a crisis of the republic, although not a rupture of the countrya??s institutional structure, nor a a??State of Exceptiona??. The paper puts forward three main issues: the developmentalist project implemented by the governments of the PT, in alliance with Brazila??s construction companies; the role of the judiciary, and in particular of a??Operation Carwasha??; and the conflict-beset relationship between the new evangelical churches and the LGBT social movements. The essay concludes with an assessment of the defeat and isolation of the left at this moment, and also suggests that democracy, in particular, could be the kernel of a renewed project of the left.