ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the impact of neo-populism on policymaking process in higher education by analysing policies in Brazil under the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, reputedly the most far-right populist government the country has experienced since its democratisation in the late 1980s. The chapter describes the institutional framework that organises the policy area for public higher education in Brazil. The evidence presented shows that in a consolidated policy field, such as the one responsible for policies for public higher education, the neo-populist government succeeded in bringing disarray but was unsuccessful in promoting long-lasting changes either in the modus operandi for the policymaking process or in the values and norms that guide debates and the production of new policies.
