The Impact of Social Movements: A study of Brazil's 2013 Protests

In June 2013, Brazil saw a resurgence of its nation wide social movement, the size of which had not been seen for little over 20 years, since the fall of its military dictatorship. The mobilizations began by demanding a R$0.20 decrease in transportation fare costs, but soon its demands evolved into better public policy and anti-corruption measures. This paper explores the degree of success obtained by both branches of the movement, as well as what factors influenced their impact on policy making, therefore answering the question of “How successful were Brazil’s 2013 social movements, and what factors influenced such outcome?”. The study relies heavily on the media’s coverage of the events as its source of data, and uses Political Process Theory, Stages of Policy Responsiveness and Process Tracing to analyse the social movements’ impact on legislation. The results show that both branches achieved success, with transportation costs being reduced and anti-corruption policies being implemented. Such outcome can be attributed to the influence of both social movement internal organizational structures and positive public opinion, while absent of political alliances. The study hopes to entice future research regarding Brazil’s nation-wide rise in social movements, which have sprung as a result of recent corruption scandals discussed in this thesis