Brazilian Parties in the XXI Century and the Conservative Agenda of the New Right

Abstract

Conservative agenda is a fundamental component of the New Right politics in the public debate throughout the world. However, in Brazil, the conservative agenda has been advanced across the entire party system, from left to right, by new and old political parties. This paper compares proposals for constitutional amendments presented between 2001 and 2022 by federal deputies in Brazil, focusing on targeted restrictions of rights and guarantees and the tightening of law-and-order provisions. The findings show that neither new-entrant parties nor ideology predict the saliency of conservative content in parties’ constitutional activity. This analysis contributes to disentangling the conservative agenda from the concept of right-wing politics, even the New Right.

Keywords

• Ideology
• conservatism
• new-right
• Constitution
• reform agenda