The judicialization of politics in Brazil: monitoring constitutionality and political rationality

Abstract

The Brazilian Constitution of 1988 revealed that institutional procedures for judicial review were organized in a way which was highly conducive to the judicialization of politics. This article will show that the increase in the number of bodies which could legitimately apply for judicial review, and the independent power of the judiciary, are key variables in understanding the phenomenon of the judicialization of politics in Brazil. The data also show, however, that there was no ongoing increase in the extent to which the Federal Supreme Court intervened in the world of politics as such, at least as far as the abstract revision of legislation in the federal context is concerned.