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THE DECLINE OF PARTIES, TRADITIONAL POLITICAL LEADERS AND
POLITICAL POWER IN BRAZIL
Fernando Alcoforado *
Mass movements do not refluxed in Brazil even after the decision of the government to
revise the value of transport tariffs. This fact shows that the mass movements in several
cities in Brazil want to advance their claims incorporating economic, political and social
goals. Of events that shake the nation at the time, one can draw the conclusion that
"those located in low" on the social ladder no longer accept to be governed as before
and "those in power" cannot govern more as always ruled in Brazil throughout its
history. In these circumstances, it can be said that Brazil is in a pre-revolutionary.
Everything that has been happening in the last seven days demonstrates that mass
movements are becoming a popular uprising difficult to overcome because, on one
hand, does not have a clear focus on the objectives and the strategy to achieve policy
development, and another, the federal government nods making changes in their ill-
fated economic and social policy. Over time, there will be wear mass movements that
will not win greater victories, than that achieved with the reduction of the transport
system and wear themselves in power who will be besieged and forced to violently
repress the rebels.
The events that shake the Brazilian nation at the time show that there is deep divorce
between State and Civil Society in Brazil. In a context in which those in power cannot
govern as before and the Civil Society is rebellious not accepting be governed as before,
the government tends to make use of an instrument of all governments that fear the
power of the people: the enactment of the state the siege, including the introduction of a
curfew. In practice, the fragile democracy that exists in Brazil would be deeply struck
with the institutionalization of the dictatorship by the current power holders. This is the
scenario that can happen in the short term in Brazil with the government trying to
maintain order at any cost.
Loosely speaking, the current revolts in Brazil are similar to the events of May 1968
that started with student strikes in Paris followed by clashes with police, while in Brazil
the rebellion began in the struggle to reduce the rates of the transport system in Sao
Paulo followed by clashes with police. The France of the 1960s was characterized by an
authoritarian political regime personified in the figure of General de Gaulle, while
Brazil is embodied in contemporary authoritarian political regime personified in the
figure of President Dilma Rousseff.
Many historians and philosophers consider the rebellion of May 1968 as the most
important revolutionary event of the twentieth century as a popular uprising erupted
overcoming barriers ethnic, cultural, age and class. The present rebellion in Brazil is
also an event that involved revolutionary broad sectors of the population. The Charles
de Gaule government's attempt to crush these strikes with multiple actions in the Latin
Quarter in Paris led to an escalating conflict that culminated in a general strike and
student strikes with factory occupations throughout France, which joined the ten million
workers, roughly two-thirds of French workers. In Brazil, the government's attempt to
crush the mass movement may not culminate in a general strike as occurred in France in
1968 because the labor movement was co-opted and disorganized since Lula took office
in Brazil.

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The protests have reached the point of taking General de Gaulle to create a headquarters
for military operations to counter-insurgency, dissolve the National Assembly and
parliamentary elections to mark June 23, 1968. The government was about to collapse
to the point of General de Gaulle come to take refuge temporarily in the air force base in
Germany, but the revolutionary situation dissipated almost as quickly as it had come by
the lack of a clearly defined political program and the effort demobilization conducted
by the French Communist Party and the CGT-General Confederation of Workers. In
Brazil, the government can reach the collapse which may lead him to declare a state of
siege and mass movements may dissipate over time and lack of a clearly defined
political program and also by the action of government repression.
In the case of the rebellion of May 1968, the backdrop of this event was the first major
crisis of the capitalist economy since the Second World War. In 1966 a recession has
shaken the world economy. Most insurgents saw the event as an opportunity to shake up
the values of the "old society", formulating advanced ideas on education and sexuality,
among other flags. The 1968 movement also left traces in the cultural and social life as
a whole. Swept the stifling atmosphere of the 1950s and 1960s, bringing significant
improvements in the rights of women and minorities. As a result of the revolt of May
1968, universities were expanded and opened to broader layers of society. However, the
domain capitalist property relations remained intact. The bourgeoisie was forced to
make concessions and social policies, but remained in power.
In the case of the present rebellion in Brazil, the backdrop of this event is the Brazilian
economy in decline and demoralization of political parties, leaders and political
institutions whose characteristic is corruption and misuse of public funds. Most
insurgents in Brazil seek the mass movement to change the situation prevailing in Brazil
flipping the values of the "old society" presenting advanced ideas on education, health,
infrastructure works and the fight against corruption, among other flags. As a result of
the rebellion in Brazil, the government may take three types of actions: 1) make all the
concessions demanded by mass movements, 2) make some concessions to the mass
movements as has happened with the reduction of transport tariffs, and, 3) make no
concessions to the mass movements not to admit their political defeat.
The attitude of the government to accept any concessions will only happen if the mass
movements demonstrate sufficient force to bend the will of the government. This
attitude will rarely happen because those in power will not make concessions that
compromise the interests of the dominant classes, especially financial capital. Some
concessions may be made provided that they not affect the objectives of the government
and the ruling classes. This attitude is more likely to happen because the PT and its
allies will not want to be responsible for institutional-political backlash that there would
be if the government did not make any concessions to social movements. The coming
days will be decisive to know the direction that the mass movements take and attitudes
to be assumed by those in power.
* Alcoforado, Fernando, engineer and doctor of Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the
University of Barcelona, a university professor and consultant in strategic planning, business planning,
regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo,
1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do
desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,
http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel,
São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era
Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social

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Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG,
Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora,
Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global
(Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011) and Os Fatores Condicionantes do
Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), among others.