Consolidating Conservatism: The Evolution of Bolsonarismo in Brazil

Since 2015, a new political force emerged in Brazil. Coming out from the backbenches of the Chamber of Deputies, where he had dwelled for over two decades as an eccentric defender of the Military Regime and the Armed Forces, Jair Bolsonaro encamped a race for the presidency, one in each, early on, no one took seriously. Three years later, he was elected President, with a comfortable lead over the Workers’ Party candidate. He campaigned based on a traditional populist strategy, derogative of the political system and based on resentment towards political elites in power, especially the left-wing Workers’ Party. Bolsonaro benefited from simultaneous political crisis, based on the emergence of corruption scandals that tainted all mainstream parties, and economic downfall. Levels of dissatisfaction with democracy were high. But Bolsonaro also campaigned on issues. His political platform included a strong defense of a harsh view on law and crime, a radical liberal economic perspective on how to run the economy, contrary views towards social policies, especially those based on identity, and extremely conservative positions towards family, gender and cultural issues in general. For the first time, these issues were all aligned in a single political group, with expressive national representation. Conservatism in Brazil had a spokesperson. During his term in office, authoritarianism and negationism were added to the mix. This paper documents the evolution of conservatism in Brazil from 2018 to 2022 using several cross-sectional surveys and two panel studies collected as part of the “Face of Democracy” project. Samples are nationally representative and allow tests of the internal consistency of the dimensions of conservatism in Brazil and its stability over time. Hopefully, the Brazilian case study can illuminate similar processes occurring elsewhere in the region. It will show how conservative policy positions are mobilized and maintained over time.