The Cancer of Our Political Institutions

Abstract

The article analyzes the crisis of Brazilian political institutions, with the aim of arguing that its central cause lies in the inadequacy between legal norms and the historical-social facts and values of the society to which they are addressed. It adopts a legal-philosophical and critical-interpretative methodology inspired by tridimensional legal theory, especially the conception that Law results from the dialectical synthesis of facts, values, and norm, and applies this framework to the evaluation of the Brazilian institutional order. It argues that many institutional crises stem from the creation of abstract normative models, imported or idealized, that do not correspond to national reality and, for that reason, although formally in force and effective, lack material validity and produce teratological institutions incapable of fulfilling their purposes. The article also contends that the revolutionary process initiated in 1964 became legitimate as an attempt to replace diseased institutions with normative structures suited to the country’s culture and needs, but warns that institutional healing would depend on the formulation of new legal arrangements compatible with Brazilian reality and on overcoming inadequate political models. It concludes that confronting institutional crises requires a profound revision of the prevailing political and legal forms, grounded in a concrete understanding of national society, otherwise instability and state ineffectiveness will persist.