Populist ‘Order and Progress’: authoritarianism and loyal business elites in Brazil

In 2018, a little-known ex-military man with authoritarian leanings won the presidential elections in Brazil. He seemed to upend previously held ideas about inclusive populisms in Latin America. There is a consensus that a perfect storm of economic crisis, corruption allegations and rising crime helped Bolsonaro secure victory. We, however, focus our attention on how business elites became part of Bolsonaro’s electoral coalition. We are interested in how “loyalty” to a populist candidate becomes an active choice for business. Complementing Feldmann and Morgan’s analysis of the conditions for business “voice” in the context of noisy politics, we examine the conditions for “loyalty”. In the case of Brazil, a conservative exclusionary agenda, anti-PT sentiment and the credentials of an ultra-liberal as prospective super-minister provided legitimacy, incentives and the promise of space for business. Ultimately, the separation of economic and socio-cultural policy arenas during the campaign offered conditions of quiet politics for business despite populists’ aim of raising the volume of politics for other constituencies