%0 Journal Article
%T The Limits of Pragmatism: The Rise and Fall of the Brazilian Workers¡¯ Party (2002¨C2016)
%A Alfredo Saad-Filho
%A Pedro Mendes Loureiro
%J Latin American Perspectives
%@ 1552-678X
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0094582X18805093
%X Under favorable external circumstances, the pragmatic political and economic strategy of Brazil¡¯s Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers¡¯ Party¡ªPT) helped to secure short-term political stability, boosted growth, and supported an unprecedented distribution of income. However, it also meant that the PT had to accommodate to rather than transform the constraints on growth in Brazil and that stability would involve unwieldy political alliances preventing deeper reforms. When it was confronted with deteriorating global economic conditions and increasingly ineffectual economic policies, the PT¡¯s strategy immobilized the party, facilitated the dissolution of its base of support, and expedited its ouster from power. The Brazilian experience suggests that political pragmatism can, within limits, support progressive economic change but that the outcomes depend heavily on external circumstances and the stability of the political coalitions supporting the administration. Em circunstancias externas favor¨¢veis, a pragm¨¢tica estrat¨¦gia pol¨ªtica e econ£¿mica do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) ajudou a assegurar a estabilidade pol¨ªtica no curto prazo, impulsionou o crescimento e apoiou uma distribui£¿£¿o de renda sem precedentes. No entanto, isso tamb¨¦m significou que o PT teve que se acomodar a, em vez de transformar, as restri£¿£¿es ao crescimento no Brasil, e que a estabilidade envolveria alian£¿as pol¨ªticas comprometedoras, impedindo reformas mais profundas. Quando foi confrontada com a deteriora£¿£¿o das condi£¿£¿es econ£¿micas globais e apresentando pol¨ªticas econ£¿micas cada vez mais ineficazes, a estrat¨¦gia do PT imobilizou o partido, facilitou a dissolu£¿£¿o de sua base de apoio e acelerou sua sa¨ªda do poder. A experi¨ºncia brasileira sugere que o pragmatismo pol¨ªtico pode, dentro de certos limites, apoiar a mudan£¿a econ£¿mica progressista, mas que os resultados dependem muito das circunstancias externas e da estabilidade das coaliz£¿es pol¨ªticas que ap¨®iam a administra£¿£¿o
%K Brazil
%K Pragmatism
%K Workers¡¯ Party
%K Drivers of growth
%K Neoliberalism
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0094582X18805093