In this article, we propose that the so-called "conservative modernization" has been completed in Brazil. Dialectically, success led to overcoming both the conservative modernization itself and the "regulated order" before a new integrative institutional frame could be fully developed. In advancing this argument, we review the recent literature on the agrarian issue and the political-institutional evolution of Brazil, in addition to an overall perspective of the theory of modernization and citizenship. Furthermore, we propose that there is no reason to imagine the prevalence of a homogenous modernity, which would only reproduce in Brazil what can be found elsewhere. Consequently, we propound that, in contemporary Brazil, we find a specific modernity in which stands out the neo-thomist tradition of the country.
conservative modernization; polyarchy; neo-thomism
