Almost 6 out of 10 Brazilians are not satisfied with the state of democracy in Brazil, according to the AmericasBarometer (LAPOP), an opinion survey that assesses perceptions about the democratic system and political institutions in the Americas.
This new number (58%), however, represents a decrease compared to 2017 when almost 8 out of 10 Brazilians were unsatisfied with the state of democracy(78%).
The proportion of those who believe that democracy is the best type of government has also grown. It was 52% in 2017, and now it is 60%. About a third of the population, however, favors a military coup in a scenario of too much corruption.
Between January and March, the Barometer interviewed 1,498 Brazilians in cities across the country. Vanderbilt University coordinates the research, which has been conducted since 2006, usually every two years.
In Brazil, the study is a partnership with the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, and Ibope collects the interviews. The margin of error is 2.5 percentage points.
According to political scientist Jairo Pimentel of the Center for Economics and Public Sector Policy (Cepesp) of the FGV, the results show that the 2018 elections brought a bit of optimism to Brazilians' view of democratic institutions. "The electoral process after a long political crisis has lifted our democracy," he says.
For the first time, there is also a significant difference in the thinking of those on the left and those on the right. In the last decade, says George Avelino, also of CEPESP, the opinion of the ideological spectra did not present wide variations. By 2019, the differences were clearly visible.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon