Armed forces and crisis of democracy in Brazil: an essay on the sociology of the constitution

• Autor(a) principal: Bachur, João Paulo
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista da Faculdade de Direito UFPR (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://revistas.ufpr.br/direito/article/view/90338
• topic: Sociology of the constitution. Constitutional hermeneutics. Article 142 of the Brazilian Constitution. Brazilian Armed Forces. Crisis of democracy.; Direito; Sociologia; Sociologia da constituição. Hermenêutica constitucional. Artigo 142 da Constituição do Brasil. Forças Armadas do Brasil. Crise da democracia.

Few constitutional texts have been as much discussed recently in Brazil as art. 142 of the Federal Constitution of 1988. This study systematizes the discussion around art. 142, arguing that the problem escapes the limits of constitutional hermeneutics, and seeks to offer a complementary perspective, supported by an analysis that falls within the field of the sociology of the constitution. If constitutional hermeneutics is structured in the adjudication operation, the sociology of the constitution recovers the conflict whose result was the norm from which the adjudication starts. Because it is not a matter of interpreting art. 142, but to dispute its content. The present work is structured as follows: Initially, the hermeneutic dispute around art. 142, regarding the possibility that the Armed Forces arbitrate conflicts between the Powers, will be presented. Next, the limits of constitutional law at this point will be shown – specifically, the limits of the thesis of the normative force of the constitution. Then, the conflict underlying art. 142 will be presented. At the end, the necessary reform of art. 142, in order to face the specter that haunts Brazilian democracy, will be discussed. The Armed Forces have occupied a prominent space in the public debate, claiming ascendancy over the Powers – which is already a symptom of a deeper crisis. This study seeks to understand this problem, and follows a bibliographical methodology, focused on sources from the sociology of the constitution. As a result, it is expected to offer an innovative and complementary contribution to constitutional hermeneutics.