Democracy as a Starting Point

Issue Date January 2001
Volume 12
Issue 1
Page Numbers 5-14
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Democracy by itself does not put an end to injustice or inequality, but it establishes the most favorable conditions for making progress in the struggle to achieve a just society.

About the Author

Fernando Henrique Cardoso was elected to two terms as president of Brazil, serving from 1994 to 2003. He chairs the Club of Madrid, cochairs the Inter-American Dialogue, and is professor at large in the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.

View all work by Fernando Henrique Cardoso

Further Reading

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Covid vs. Democracy: Brazil’s Populist Playbook

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Latin America’s New Turbulence: Crisis and Integrity in Brazil

Public anger at revelations of widespread corruption, along with the rising cost of coalition politics, has brought Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff to the brink of impeachment. Yet the crisis has…

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Brazil: The Costs of Multiparty Presidentialism

The massive corruption revealed by Brazil’s “Operation Car Wash” points to fundamental flaws in multiparty presidential systems, where presidents must find ways to build coalitions in fragmented legislatures.