The first handbook on Brazilian politics written only by women, this open access collection addresses the deterioration of democracy in the last decade through the angles of institutional politics, political parties, economics, social movements, freedom of speech, digitalization, gender, race, and violence.

While Brazil is a fairly new democracy, it has experienced frequent upheaval, ultimately leading to the impeachment of a democratically elected president, deep cuts in social spending, an economic crisis, and the election of a far-right president. Chapter authors tackle these issues and more, focusing on the development of different public policies through the last decade and employing a wide range of methods, including theory grounded in data, interviews, case studies, process tracing, uncontrolled qualitative comparison, public opinion surveys and literature reviews. This collection offers a broad account of the state of political affairs in Brazil over the last decade and is a vital resource for understanding the political landscape leading up to the 2026 presidential election.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Bianca Tavolari is professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a researcher at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP), and a principal investigator at the Maria Sibylla Merian Centre - Mecila in São Paulo, Brazil.

Daniela Costanzo is a visiting scholar at Sciences Po Paris and a researcher at CEBRAP, Brazil.

Marina Slhessarenko Barreto is a journalist and researcher at CEBRAP, Brazil.