ABSTRACT
From 1930 to 2010 Brazil would make very substantial progress in the realm of both political development and the establishment of democracy. The civilian middle class, for all their espousal of political democracy, were not strongly inclined toward social reforms. In sharp contrast with Mexico or even Peronist Argentina, Brazil's political parties, suffering from a lack of coherence and organization, as well as from their essentially conservative orientation, were inadequate vehicles for the socialization of the new urban masses entering the electorate. The beginning of a process of undermining hegemonic political machines in states hitherto non-competitive was almost lost in the drama of Luis Inacio Lula's election. The truly draconian Fifth Institutional Act granted broad discretionary powers to the president and began a new round of cancellations of legislative mandates and suspensions of political rights. Brazil moved to the brink of unrestricted military dictatorship.
