The end of the military dictatorship in the political thinking of Raymundo Faoro: Republicanism, democracy and the patrimonialist order

Abstract

This article reconstructs Raymundo Faoro's reflections on the years that marked the end of the military dictatorship that first took power in Brazil in 1964. It uses as sources studies, academic articles, opinion columns and interviews given by Faoro between 1977 and 2002. The study points to his negative view of the democratic transition process, understood as a conservative rearrangement of elites; at this time, the centrality of the concepts of patrimonialism and bureaucratic state in the intellectual's interpretation is evident. On the other hand, Faoro's pronouncements demonstrate a substantive concept of democracy and reveal the influence of classical republican themes on the author's political thought.

Keywords:
Raymundo Faoro; military dictatorship; democracy; Brazilian political thinking; Brazilian social thought