Brazil’s New President Faces Few Constraints

Now that voters have elected former Army captain Jair Bolsonaro as Brazil’s new president, the country’s democracy will face a stern test. The most important question is: Can Brazilian institutions withstand the threat posed by the man’s well-documented authoritarian and illiberal streaks?

Brazil transitioned to democracy more than 30 years ago, an evolution that seemed largely to have been consolidated — witness Operation Carwash’s successful anti-corruption investigations of powerful politicians. Yet there is reason to be less than sanguine about what is in store.