Perspectives on the militarization of public security in contemporary Brazil

Brazil still has not fully accomplished procedural democracy, despite being a formal democracy funded on a federal constitution and on an organized judicial system. The country has not been able to foster the principles of justice, peace, development, and equity for most of the population, and the s...

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Main Authors: Luís Antônio Francisco de Souza, Carlos Henrique Aguiar Serra, Thaís Battibugli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2019-12-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
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Online Access:http://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1149
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Summary:Brazil still has not fully accomplished procedural democracy, despite being a formal democracy funded on a federal constitution and on an organized judicial system. The country has not been able to foster the principles of justice, peace, development, and equity for most of the population, and the state apparatus is restricted regarding social control, transparency, and effectiveness of public policies. This scenario resulted in the rise of violence, criminality, organized crime, and urban disorder, which has led to the militarization of public security both with the improvement of the military police&rsquo;s structure and with the presence of the armed forces performing public security activities. This process of militarization has increased in the last two years, and for the first time since 1985, the military managed to ascend to the most powerful positions in the Brazilian government. This article discusses the militarization of public security in Brazil, pointing to the risks of a new and enduring process of militarization of Brazilian society, which still suffers from limited rights and lack of constitutional guarantees. <br /><br /> Brasil a&uacute;n no ha alcanzado del todo la democracia procedimental, a pesar de ser una democracia formal fundada en una constituci&oacute;n federal y en un sistema judicial organizado. El pa&iacute;s no ha sido capaz de fomentar los principios de justicia, paz, desarrollo e igualdad para la mayor&iacute;a de la poblaci&oacute;n, y el aparato estatal est&aacute; limitado respecto al control social, la transparencia y la eficacia de las pol&iacute;ticas p&uacute;blicas. Este panorama result&oacute; en el aumento de la violencia, el crimen, el crimen organizado y el desorden urbano, lo cual ha llevado a la militarizaci&oacute;n de la seguridad p&uacute;blica, tanto con la mejora de la estructura de la polic&iacute;a militar como con la presencia de las fuerzas armadas en actividades de seguridad p&uacute;blica. El proceso de militarizaci&oacute;n ha aumentado en los dos &uacute;ltimos a&ntilde;os, y, por primera vez desde 1985, los militares consiguieron alcanzar los puestos de poder m&aacute;s importantes en el gobierno de Brasil. El art&iacute;culo se ocupa de la militarizaci&oacute;n de la seguridad p&uacute;blica en Brasil, apuntando a los peligros de un nuevo y duradero proceso de militarizaci&oacute;n de la sociedad brasile&ntilde;a, la cual a&uacute;n sufre de derechos limitados y de una falta de garant&iacute;as constitucionales.<br /><br /> <strong>Available from:</strong> <a href="https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1083" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1083</a>
ISSN:2079-5971