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"Few people today would challenge the legitimacy of democracy as the form of government most congenial to modern citizenship, as it requires members to treat each other as equals and to cooperate in the pursuit of conditions that may maximize both the promotion of individuals potential and the achievement of public welfare. Yet a number of facts challenge these ideals. Declining political participation, as well as skepticism and dissatisfaction with the functioning of democracy among citizens of established democracies, attests to a kind of paradox. Citizens increasing capacity to control their own circumstances within their private, social, and economic spheres is at odds with their decreasing capacity to exert control over their political representatives and over the domain of politics in general. The shift of opposing political coalitions toward more pragmatic and ideologically elusive platforms, aimed at attracting a larger sphere of the electorate, has greatly diluted the ideological identity of parties that have replaced traditional class movements. All politics has become more personalized as political preferences are increasingly dependent on the likes and dislikes of citizens, and ultimately on the personality characteristics of political candidates capable of attracting voters preferences. These pressures urge legislators to better appreciate the significant changes that have occurred in citizens political reasoning and action, as well as the diversities among citizens of different political contexts. Likewise, scientists are urged to disclose the psychological structures and mechanisms that set the conditions for individuals democratic participation."

"Tesis ini menginvestigasi keterikatan antara politik Brazil dengan bantuan luar negeri A.S. yang terfokus pada “linkage” antara kebijakan luar negeri A.S. dan arah pembuatan kebijakan rezim militer Brazil antara tahun 1964-1985. Pada saat itu, bantuan A.S. melibatkan skema promosi demokrasi sebagai syarat bagi negara penerima bantuan, meski literaturnya belum menghubungkan “gelombang ketiga” demokratisasi dengan bantuan luar negeri A.S., terutama dengan studi kasus per negara sebagai penerima bantuan. Maka, tesis ini bertujuan untuk meletakkan hubungan antara bantuan A.S. sebagai salah satu faktor penyebab demokratisasi di Brazil dengan menggunakan teori modernisasi dan demokratisasi, serta konsep profesionalisme baru militer. Riset ini menggunakan logika bahwa, apabila bantuan A.S. adalah upaya jangka panjang untuk membangun kedekatan dengan negara-negara yang dianggap penting secara geopolitik pada masanya, maka bantuan A.S. bersifat instrumental dalam menghadirkan demokratisasi di Brazil yang berdampak signifikan terhadap politik dalam negeri, walau dipicu secara lintas perbatasan. Tesis ini berkesimpulan dua hal: pertama, militer adalah satu institusi yang bertindak sebagai pemerintah dan juga aktor keamanan yang sekaligus menjadikannya penerima berbagai jenis bantuan, sehingga pengaruh besar militer terhadap masyarakat membuka satu jalur di mana A.S. dapat memengaruhi proses pembuatan keputusan rezim sehingga dapat menjauh dari sikap otoriter dan membuka jalan untuk transisi menuju pemerintahan sipil; kedua, bahwa fokus spesifik terhadap hak asasi manusia memaksa rezim militer untuk mengimbangi keamanan nasional atau hak individu, dalam konteks hubungan ketergantungan dengan A.S.

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This thesis investigates the interlocking relationship between Brazilian politics and U.S. foreign aid, focusing specifically on the linkage between U.S. foreign policy and the Brazilian military regime’s policymaking directions between 1964-1985. Accordingly, U.S. aid includes democracy promotion as a condition for countries to receive aid, though studies have not gone as far as linking foreign aid to the “third wave of democratization” and, in particular, the experience of individual countries as recipients of aid. This thesis aims to establish the link between U.S. aid and democracy promotion in Brazil through abertura by employing the theories of modernization and international factors of democratization. The research embraces the logic that, if U.S. aid was a sustained effort to maintain close ties with countries deemed crucial to the geopolitical imperatives at the time, then aid was instrumental in bringing democratization to Brazil that, while international in nature, had significant national effects. This thesis concludes with two overarching points: first, as the military represented a single institution in charge of both government and security, therefore becoming a negotiating actor to multiple forms of aid, the overarching influence of the armed forces in civil society allows for a single channel in which U.S. aid influenced Brazilian politics, giving the U.S. an indirect mechanism to influence the regime’s decision-making process to eventually withdraw from authoritarian behavior and pave the way for the transition to civilian government; second, that the singular focus on human rights forces a balancing act for the military government to prioritize either national security or individual rights, being situated in a dependent relationship with the U.S."

"In terms accessible to non-economists, Marcos José Mendes describes the ways democracy and inequality produce low growth in the short and medium terms. In the longer term, he argues that Brazil has two paths in front of it. One is to create the conditions necessary to boost economic performance and drive the country toward a high level of development. The other is to fail in untying the political knot that blocks growth, leaving it a middle-income country. The source of his contrasting futures for Brazil is inequality, which he demonstrates is a relevant variable in any discussion of economic growth. Inequality illuminates causes of seemingly-unconnected problems. This book, which includes freely-accessible documents and datasets, is the first in-depth analysis of an issue that promises to become increasingly prominent."