Abstract:
The election of Jair Bolsonaro in 2018, marked by the global rise of far-right populist leaders, coincided with a decline in indicators of support and satisfaction with democracy in Latin America. In this context, this study explores the current state of democratic legitimacy in Brazil, introducing a qualitative approach to the national research agenda on the topic. Through online focus groups conducted in April 2021 with 62 voters from the city of Rio de Janeiro, the objective was to verify four dimensions of legitimacy: support for the fundamental principles of the regime; support for the regime’s institutions; assessment of the regime’s performance; and support for political actors. The results reveal that, while most participants value voting, elections, and political participation, a large part of them demonstrate negative attitudes towards political parties, political and electoral institutions, especially regarding the electoral process. The perception of corruption stands out as a determining factor for negative opinions. In addition, it was observed that supporters of Bolsonaro and Haddad have different levels of evaluation of the government. In general, the results corroborate the literature that points to high levels of diffuse support for the principles of the regime among voters, in contrast to low levels of specific support for political institutions and authorities.
Keywords:
democracy; Bolsonaro government; electorate perception; qualitative methodology