The DEMOCRACY, POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIETY research line stands out nationally and internationally for its intellectual production. Even though it has Brazil as its main object of study, it seeks, whenever pertinent, a comparative perspective. This comparative emphasis presents itself as one of the outstanding characteristics of the postgraduate training offered by the Department.
A first group of projects focuses on the analysis of institutions, behavior and processes that characterize contemporary politics, with an emphasis on the three powers and their reciprocal relations, on federalism, and on parties and party systems. The repercussions of the discussion on coalitional presidentialism went beyond the debate on the functioning of the legislature and executive in Brazil and led to a review of the debate on the dynamics of government in presidential and parliamentary regimes. Another project focuses on the themes of the judicialization of politics and the politicization of justice, with developments in different directions. Vertical control institutions such as the Federal Police, the Public Ministry and the Court of Auditors are analyzed, as well as the relationship between the Constitution, its interpreters in the judiciary and the initiatives to change it through Congress.
A second group focuses on the institutions and social processes that influence the functioning, stability and quality of the democratic system. In this context, it analyzes the relationship between attitudes, behaviors and perceptions of the mass public and political elites during the processes of democratization and, in particular, the expansion of citizenship rights, the establishment of the rule of law and the consolidation of democratic institutions. Studies are carried out here on social movements, interest groups and citizenship.
Finally, more recently, this line of research has advanced the debate in political science by devoting greater attention to the analysis of political institutions before 1988, with particular attention to the democratic period of 1945 and its predecessors (First and Second Republics) . Despite being recent, the research has already produced important results in terms of publications and partnerships with public institutions, a particular highlight being collaborations with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
This research line has 7 researchers: Bruno Speck, Fernando Limongi, Glauco Silva, Josè Alvaro Moises, Paolo Ricci, Rogerio Arantes, Wagner Mancuso.