This volume presents in-depth insights into the polity, politics and policies of the Brazilian political system. It reassesses the processes of change since the country's return to democracy in the 1980s, in the light of autocratic societal structures and suboptimal institutional design, on the one hand, and the political and economic achievements observed, on the other. In their contributions, top Brazilian and international scholars critically examine the development of the political system with a focus on the Lula and Rousseff administrations, and place their actions and failures in the socio-political and economic context so as to uncover the underlying institutional structures, constellations and diverging interests of actors on various decision-making levels and in different political fields. It is the central aim of this book to present a differentiated portrait of the current political landscape and remaining contradictions in Latin America's largest country.

Dr. Dana de la Fontaine studied Political Science with focus on Latin America and Development Theory as well as Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Tübingen in Germany. She concluded her studies with a Doctorate from the University of Kassel in Germany focusing on India, Brazil and South Africa as Emerging Donors. Currently she works as freelance researcher and consultant in the sector of development cooperation in Tanzania.Dr. Thomas Stehnken studied Political Science, Economics and Public Law at the University of Tübingen, Germany where he also completed his PhD studies focusing on the Brazilian innovation system. He continued his career as project manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) in Karlsruhe, Germany. Currently he works as scientific officer in the Brussels office of acatech, the German National Academy for Science and Engineering.