UC San Diego

Brazil presents a significant puzzle for analysts of polarization. A cursory glance at contemporary Brazilian politics suggests that the country should be a clear-cut case of heightened polarization at both the mass and elite levels. In 2013, millions of Brazilians took to the streets in levels unseen since the country transitioned from authoritarian rule three decades earlier. Widespread citizen anger underpinned the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff in 2016. Her detractors accused her and her Workers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores; PT) of concocting a scheme of large-scale graft to rob public coffers, while her supporters denounced impeachment proponents as coup...