JURISTS AGAINST DEMOCRACY

uses of law and democratic decay in post-2014 Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, in addition to formulating discourses and practices that mobilize legal institutions, jurists traditionally have a prominent place in politics orientation, being also able to (re)insert particular normative content in law by criticizing public agents and the political system, as well as by incorporating their own political views into professional practices, obtaining material benefits in this relationship. In this sense, considering the importance of judicial responses in the legitimation assessment of political power exercise after Operation Car Wash, evidenced by research into trust in democracy, one argues that, by presenting themselves as agents of legality and simultaneously violating the law, jurists have contributed to the deepening of the Brazilian political and institutional crisis. Furthermore, by blending law and morality, jurists eroded the democratic bases of legal dogmatics, facilitating the rise of authoritarian political forces. Hence, it is suggested that the instrumentalization of legal forms encourages undemocratic uses of law and has reinforced democratic disintegration after 2014.