Populism in Times of Crisis: The Brazilian Case of Bolsonaro

Abstract

A new wave of Populism has been on the ascent around the world. In Brazil, the situation is not different, and the populist rhetoric strongly seized the most recent presidential election in 2018. The aim of this paper is to explore the reasons for President Jair Bolsonaro’s (considered a populist politician) victory. The potential motivations for this triumph are discussed in this paper, with the finding that a multidimensional crisis gripped the country in the years prior to the election, leading people to sympathise with those who were in opposition to the dominant party, which culminated in a heavily divisive presidential campaign. The nation was engulfed by an economic depression that coincided with a political crisis, which had legal, social, and even cultural repercussions, with polarisation and corruption playing key roles. The paper also explores the multifaceted phenomenon of populism, and why Bolsonaro is considered to be a populist; the latter mainly related to his appealing speeches, in which he tried to show himself as a politician of the people who governs for them, in opposition to the villainous establishment.