Controlling intelligence services is one of the most difficult political tasks at hand, since there is an inherent tension between such services and democracy. In a democracy, the transparency of public data and discussions around them are valued, while intelligence activity demands secrecy. If this is a difficult task in consolidated democracies, it can only be more so in the case of fragile democracies like the Brazilian one. Within the latter type, decisions made by civilian powers that upset the military stir up anti-democratic pressures which are often denied yet insinuated. Within any negotiated transition, the new democratic government is expected to make some concessions to the military, in the sense of preserving some authoritarian institutions. This is the price of negotiation, yet these concessions are supposed to be temporary. The Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Agência Brasileira de Inteligência - ABIN) is a typical example of institutional hybridism: it presents both characteristics of democratic change and authoritarian conservation. However, as time transpires, an institutional involution can be observed. Militarization is its most evident trait. This is what I intend to show in this paper as I look at the creation of the ABIN and its institutional trajectory over the course of the Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administrations. My methodological option involves the use of instruments coming from Rational Choice Theory and ethnographic research. My underlying premise is that micro-details influence institutional evolution or involution. This narrative enables me to identify problems of collective action, veto power and credibility of commitments, as well as cultural aspects linked to individuals and/or society that influence the shaping of political priorities.
intelligence services; democracy; militarization; Brazilian Intelligence Agency; ABIN; Fernando Henrique Cardoso; Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva