Political culture, economic changes, and inertial democracy: a post-2014 elections analysis

Abstract

This work seeks to evaluate the presence of an inertial democracy in Brazil, where asymmetries between economics and politics create a passive and anomic political culture. Such a situation allows for social and economic policies to follow a pattern that faces limited change. If, in a context of changes, things need to change in order to remain the same, then in a scenario of inertial (re-) democratization, institutions can be expected to change without, however, altering, in a positive direction, the population’s norms, values, and normative beliefs about democracy. In order to assess this proposition, demographic and socio-economic data will be analyzed along with the evolution of trust in institutions, politicians, and democracy for the period of 2002–2014 using data from the Brazilian Electoral Survey (Eseb). The conclusion is that the period of favorable economic performance did not allow for the consolidation of a democratic political culture, with a rapid deterioration of support for institutions and leaders following the economic crisis.

political culture; inertial democracy; economy