{"id":34191,"date":"2016-12-03T12:30:18","date_gmt":"2016-12-03T15:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=34191"},"modified":"2022-10-19T11:13:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T14:13:14","slug":"2016-election-reflections-brazil-and-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=34191","title":{"rendered":"2016 Election Reflections: Brazil and the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The aftermath of the 2016 election season has left voters, pollsters, and the international community alike with plenty of questions. Brazilian citizens went to the polls in October<\/a> for the first time since Dilma Rousseff\u2019s impeachment<\/a> to choose new city council\u00a0and municipal leadership. One month later, the United States held elections for a president-elect to succeed President Barack Obama, far overshadowing simultaneous campaigns for local and state-level representatives. Many of the outcomes in both the United States and Brazil were unprecedented, reflecting shifts in voter priorities and demographics, the electoral system at large, and media campaign coverage. As the two largest democracies in the Western Hemisphere, Brazil and the United States have not only an important bilateral relationship but a tremendous global impact through the application of policy, trade, and investment. Similar experiences and divergences can be seen in the election cycles of these two countries in the following ways:<\/p>\n

Anti-establishment candidates won big(ly)<\/a><\/b><\/h3>\n

Seizing on voter frustration with the status quo, 2016 saw a rise in the popularity of candidates seen as \u201coutsiders\u201d to the political system.<\/p>\n

While Hillary Clinton would have broken ground by becoming America\u2019s first female president, her positions especially on foreign policy, trade, and the national economy are decidedly more moderate than radical. As much as she tried to convince the electorate otherwise, Clinton fit<\/a> the Democratic establishment mold.<\/p>\n

Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist candidate Clinton eventually beat out to secure the Democratic Party nomination, garnered significant support for his platform addressing wealth inequality and challenging the corporate clientelism of Wall Street. He challenged the elitism of his own party, calling out the Democratic National Committee leadership when he said that<\/a>\u00a0\u201cI think you have a Democratic Party which is not as strong as it should be in standing up for the working class of this country and taking on big-money interests. And that\u2019s been my view for a long time.\u201d As a reform candidate, Sanders provided the working class and more progressive-minded Democrats with an alternative to Clinton\u2019s “safe but tired”\u00a0policy. Sanders credits<\/a> the anger held by a \u201cdeclining middle class\u201d in part for garnering support for Trump, and certainly a sizable group<\/a> of Sanders supporters is estimated to have turned out for Trump and other third-party options instead at the polls.<\/p>\n

\"Clinton<\/a><\/p>\n

As the 800 point drop<\/a> in Dow stock market futures during the US election night demonstrate, Donald Trump\u2019s win was a literal shock to the world. As a candidate, Trump differed wildly from the classic Republican Party line<\/a> symbolized by former presidential candidate Mitt Romney and House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump is a personality, not policy-driven, candidate, relying more on the appeal of his bullying egoism and brash humor than on tact levelheadedness that high ranking leaders generally possess. His policy agenda is unpredictable but alarming, with rapidly changing responses<\/a> on issues such as climate change, reproductive rights, immigration, and healthcare.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the recent impeachment of Dilma Rousseff<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Workers’ Party (PT)<\/a> severely impacted the Brazilian elections. Across party<\/a> affiliation, a majority<\/a> of lawmakers in Brazil\u2019s Congress are currently under investigation or face criminal charges for corruption. Measured in terms of numbers of mayors, the PT\u00a0now ranks tenth<\/a> among political parties<\/a>. To fill this void, fringe candidates ran campaigns based on their \u201coutsider\u201d status and made massive gains in cities across Brazil.<\/p>\n

In S\u00e3o Paulo, centrist Jo\u00e3o Doria of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB<\/a>) received more than 50% of the votes to become the mayor-elect without need for a run-off election. Doria campaigned<\/a> on this anti-PT sentiment and on his experience in the private sector, emphasizing that he is not a politician and repeatedly denouncing<\/a> former president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva (PT) as “a scoundrel, a liar and a coward.\u201d Doria\u2019s business background, hosting Brazil\u2019s version of the TV show The Apprentice<\/em>, and policy focus on privatization have drawn comparison by The Washington Post<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to Trump in the United States.<\/p>\n

Other cities across Brazil saw a similar trend, with Belo Horizonte narrowly electing former soccer executive Alexandre Kalil of the Humanist Solidarity Party over established politician Jo\u00e3o Leite (PSDB).<\/p>\n

\"Jo\u00e3o<\/a><\/p>\n

Social movements come with shifts right<\/b><\/h3>\n

History shows us that in the pattern of incremental progress, with social gains come conservative regressions. Combined with voter apathy and economic frustration, the 2016 elections demonstrated a conservative shift in voter mindset in Brazil and the United States.<\/p>\n

The 2016 election cycle in both nations focused heavily on the economy, criminal justice, data, and security.\u00a0Polling and research throughout and after the election shows that American voters were motivated by economic anxiety<\/a> and the intertwining of class and race-based politics<\/a>. A telling correlation<\/a> is Trump\u2019s performance, highest in areas where middle-aged whites are also dying the fastest linked to addiction, lack of education, and economic depression. Immigrants and people of color are seen by some as undeserving or unfairly helped by social policies<\/a>; their growth in the United States, and Barack Obama\u2019s presidency as an African-American, has fueled a white backlash. Conservative candidates, and uniquely Trump\u2019s discourse on regaining the power of the working class, tapped into this racial prejudice and economic fear.\u00a0For the first time<\/a> since 1928, the Republican Party now has control of the Senate (51-47), House of Representatives (239-192), the majority of governorships, and has a president-elect headed for the White House in 2017 with the power to select the next Supreme Court justice.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Brazil, since the “parliamentary coup” or Dilma’s impeachment, depending on who you ask, federal politicians,\u00a0voted in or not<\/a>–are also actively seeking to revert to earlier laws or defund existing programs. Most notable is the PEC 55, a constitutional amendment that will freeze federal expenditures for twenty years, posing a particularly detrimental impact to health and education, arguably the chronically unequal nation’s top two needs. Brazil’s Interim President Temer\u00a0is in favor of<\/a> privatizing Brazil’s top universities (now public) and even cutting\u00a0affirmative action, which, along with other social welfare supports, has been extensively associated with improvements<\/a> in access to education and reductions in poverty over the past decades.<\/p>\n

In the Rio de Janeiro mayoral race<\/a>, evangelical bishop Marcelo Crivella<\/a> of the Brazilian Republican Party (PRB) painted his opponent Marcelo Freixo<\/a> of the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) as dangerously far left. Brazilian voters were more wary of left candidates following Rousseff\u2019s impeachment, and leaned toward Crivella\u2019s conservatism.<\/p>\n

Influence of the elite<\/b><\/h3>\n

While an increased scrutiny on campaign financing prompted many candidates to emphasize their broad funding base and be more transparent in spending leading up to the 2016 elections, ultimately this year set campaign records and overwhelmingly landed the wealthy in office.<\/p>\n

Sanders was surprisingly successful in seeking small, broad-based donations to fund his campaign. This choice exemplified his own discourse that criticized politicians\u2019 corporate ties and the use of super political action committees (PACs)<\/a>. Trump took a different route, boasting of a\u00a0self-funded campaign with $100 million from his personal wealth. However, it doesn\u2019t look like he fulfilled that claim. Data from the Federal Election Commission<\/a> shows that he contributed only $66 million of his pledge and relied heavily\u2014as Clinton did as well\u2014on super PAC fundraising. Most recently, the Federal Election Commission has asked Trump to clarify more than 1,000 tax errors<\/a> in campaign donations they deem \u201cexcessive.\u201d For Trump and many local politicians facing post-election campaign audits, it looks like legal questions surrounding finances can\u2019t be written off as resolved yet.<\/p>\n

Outside campaign finance, the candidates themselves are disproportionately wealthy, raising questions as to who they will actually\u00a0serve once in office. In Brazil, one in five<\/a> of the mayors elected this year are millionaires. The fall in popularity of PT\u00a0candidates has had indirect impacts, as less wealthy candidates tend to belong to parties on the left. More noteworthy is the 2015 legislation<\/a> that places spending caps on campaigns and bans corporate donations to Brazilian candidates. The rules are meant to reduce clientelism in light of Operation Car Wash<\/a>, but so far have had the short-term effect of favoring<\/a> wealthy businessmen like Doria and candidates backed by wealthy evangelical churches like Crivella. These candidates have access to their own resources, and are not as impeded by the ban as others<\/a>. Candidates with their own wealth are allowed to donate up to 10% of their income to the campaign, while churches can organize donation drives and use their influence and network to garner member support. Rafael Greca, 2016 mayor-elect of Curitiba, paid for 40% of his campaign himself with a total of R$600,000. Much of the public is skeptical of giving even a small donation to politicians, seeing them all as corrupt;\u00a0an exception was socialist Marcelo Freixo<\/a>‘s (PSOL) promising but ultimately unsuccessful campaign for Rio mayor,\u00a0funded by small donations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Make-it-or-break-it media\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

In every democracy, media plays an essential role in distributing information to the public, providing a platform for open debate, and reporting on the actions of government, elected officials, and candidates. The digital age of reporting means that news reaches consumers rapidly and through different platforms. Brazil has the third most Facebook users of any country<\/a>; its 90 million users have some of the highest engagement, using social media platforms to access candidate information, participate in Q&A sessions<\/a> with officials, and publicly express their views. In the United States, Snapchat covered<\/a> rallies, party conventions, and other campaign events in the United States to popular, and primarily young, voter viewership.<\/p>\n

\"US<\/a><\/p>\n

The media is tasked with evaluating the validity of candidate and elected official statements. Through fact checking and even coverage, news sources are thought to level the playing field for candidates who may be otherwise disadvantaged. In the US, \u201cFour-Pinocchio rulings<\/a>\u201d are given to inform voters that a statistic or claim is objectively false. While Hillary came away from the election with seven Four-Pinocchio rulings from The Fact Checker, Trump, in contrast, earned 59 Four-Pinocchio rulings. His absurd claims<\/a>, ranging from Obama admitting upwards of 100,000 Syrian refugees to estimating his infamous border wall will cost $8 billion, caused anger, confusion, and even\u00a0hilarity on occasion.\u00a0Yet Trump\u2019s lack of truthfulness and consistency were not enough to lose him the election.<\/p>\n

In Rio, a fiercely fought mayoral race inspired several\u00a0fact-checking initiatives<\/a>. During a televised mayoral debate, small teams of journalists collaborated to label candidates\u2019 claims correct, incorrect, exaggerated or out of context. Results were shared on social media with a hashtag #checado<\/a>. NGOs also banded together, led by politics watchdog Meu Rio, with its online “lie detector” real-time analysis<\/a> of mayoral debates. Brazil boasts a growing fact checking industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 2016 elections have presented the US and Brazil with challenges and opportunities going forward to reevaluate election cycle practices to improve their respective political systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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