Brazilian political corruption: an analysis of the Cardoso-Lula-Rousseff era

What explains political corruption in Brazil today? With the impeachment of the most recently elected president and the conviction for corruption and money laundering of a previous president, these national-level cases have been rigorously addressed. The Brazilian politician’s sense of impunity coupled with a system of patronage, dating back to Colonial Brazil, continues to plague the nation. Accountability in government spending and campaign financing seem to perpetuate the problem of political corruption. Such levels of corruption and its prosecution can be traced back to the early 1990s when Brazil’s historically first popularly elected president, Fernando Collor de Mello, was impeached. Politically, Brazil is a melting pot of parties, all grasping for a piece of the control of the nation. Corrupt heads of state are only the tip of the iceberg to an even larger scandal-engulfed nation involving a spattering of politicians, members of Congress, and the presidential cabinets throughout the last two and a half decades.http://archive.org/details/brazilipolitical1094558307Major, United States Air ForceApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited