ABSTRACT
This chapter examines whether and to what extent Brazilians can hold governments accountable by casting an economic vote. I rely on the literature on clarity of responsibility and on globalization to examine whether the conditions conducive to the proper assignment of responsibility for economic outcomes are present in the Brazilian case. The central thesis of the chapter is that, owing to the country’s high exposure to international boom–bust cycles, an economic vote in Brazil is most likely to reward luck rather than merit. This behavior – rational, considering the paucity of alternative sources of information about government quality in the country’s poorly institutionalized party system – breaks the link between competence and reward and is unlikely to promote accountability.
