Before power

extreme right had roots in the brazilians and polishes thinking

Abstract

Comparative work on the opinion of Brazilians and Poles before the coming to power of right-wing populist leaders (MUDDE, 2017). Public opinion data are used to four themes commonly associated with the processes of democratic deconsolidation: institutional distrust (MOREIRA, 2020), support for a strong leader who ignores the division of powers (ALBERTUS; GROSSMAN, 2021), economic position (PIKETTY, 2020) and abortion (NORRIS; INGLEHART, 2019). At a first glimpse, the results indicated that there is no much similarity between Brazilians and Poles. On the other hand, when compared to Uruguayans, chosen for being a young democracy, without populist right in power, Brazilians and Poles tend to position themselves with greater institutional distrust and more conservatism in the agenda of customs. The conclusion points to a special fragility of trust in political parties, as the main marker that unites opinions in Brazil and Poland, when compared to the solid Uruguayan democracy. An interesting note at the end of the work is a research agenda on this possible correlation between the historical fragility of party systems and the presence of far-right leaders.

Key words: Democratic deconsolidation; Populist right; Political parties, Conservatism.