Brazilian Politicians Dance Around Reform

“Two steps here, two steps there”: When storied singer Elis Regina purrs the honeyed Brazilian bolero, lovers tingle. When deft politicians take up their familiar two-step, voters know that democracy is in for a hit. So it has been in recent weeks as national lawmakers have finally begun to overhaul Brazil’s discredited political system.

It’s about time. With 35 registered political parties -- 28 of them with seats in congress -- Brazil is home to one of the most convoluted and politically fragmented governing establishments in the world, according to Getulio Vargas Foundation political scientist Octavio Amorim Neto. No other major democracy has so many legislative claim-stakers, or a national agenda ransomed to so many centrifugal interests.