Amy Erica Smith joins the Democracy Paradox to explain how religion influences politics in Brazil. This is the 21st episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast. It kicks off the second season with an emphasis on world affairs.
Amy Erica Smith on Brazilian Democracy
Political Scientist Seymour Martin Lipset wrote, “A person who knows only one country doesn’t know any country because you’re not sensitized to what is unique, what is different, what is special about your country.” Brazil offers a parallel to the United States because it has a populist President who is active on social media and has been indifferent to the pandemic and hostile to the environment. But it also has differences in culture, development, and religion.
The past week has largely been about the American Presidential Election for me. Like most of you my attention was focused on the results until this past weekend when Joe Biden was officially declared the winner. But now I am exhausted talking about American politics, so I invited Amy Erica Smith to discuss politics in Brazil. She is the author of Religion and Brazilian Democracy: Mobilizing the People of God and a Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University.
Brazil as a Parallel to the United States
My conversation with Amy Erica is about Brazil, but in many ways, it is illuminating about the United States. Everyone will have theories about American politics after a consequential election. But an examination of other countries tests those assumptions in different contexts. Populist leaders have found success in many parts of the world, but Jair Bolsonaro feels eerily similar to Trump in so many ways. And yet, “Bolsonaro is a Brazilian invention.” Brian Winter writes in Foreign Affairs, “He is a product of the singularly awful economic and political crisis the country has endured over the last decade and, just as important, of Brazil’s long tradition of being ruled by conservative white men of military background.”
The most striking of those similarities and differences is the way religion has interacted with politics in Brazil. Amy Erica’s research is amazing. She is a political scientist’s political scientist but also part of a new generation of scholars who combine field research with statistical analysis to give anecdotal observations new meaning.
We cover a lot of ground in our conversation: Jair Bolsonaro; the Workers’ Party; Catholics, Evangelicals, and Pentecostals and… you really just need to listen.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your podcasts. You can find Religion and Brazilian Democracy: Mobilizing the People of God at Amazon or your local library. The introduction and outro feature the music of Apes of the State. You can find their music on Spotify or Bandcamp.
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