If You're Wondering "Why Brazil?" This Post is for You (Insight into The Brazilian Blueprint)

With each day that passes, an increasing number of people in the United States worry that democracy (or our constitutional republic) is in trouble. We debate polarization, election denialism, mis- and disinformation, and whether our checks and balances, including Congress and the courts, are living up to the roles they need to play.

There are reasons for concern and reasons for hope. But if we only focus within our borders in the months and years ahead, we'll needlessly miss major learning opportunities. There's one country that is practically like looking in a mirror that reflects both democratic fragility and resilience: Brazil.

THAT'S why we've designed a four-phase project called the Brazilian Blueprint.

If you're unfamiliar with the history of Brazil, you may think of soccer and FIFA, Carnival and Copacabana, the wilds of the Amazon or wilds of unstable politics.

Looking more deeply, you'll find that Brazil is one of the world’s largest democracies, with over 200 million people, vast regional diversity, and a political system that, like that of the U.S., is federal, presidential, and deeply polarized.

And in recent years, both of our countries have faced remarkably similar democratic stress tests. As Zack Beauchamp recently wrote for Vox in "How one country stopped a Trump-style authoritarian in his tracks:"

In 2018, Brazilian voters elected Jair Bolsonaro — a former military captain and congressional backbencher — to the presidency. An open admirer of the military regime, Bolsonaro ran as an outsider against a political class that Brazilians widely (and correctly) regard as deeply corrupt. Once in office, he pushed aggressively to consolidate power in his own hands.

But while Bolsonaro's efforts resembled what Donald Trump has done in his second term in the United States, the response from other branches was markedly different.

While the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court have helped Trump build an imperial presidency, their Brazilian equivalents held the line. Center-right parties in Congress refused to rubber-stamp Bolsonaro's power grabs. Brazil's Supreme Court repeatedly blocked the president's authoritarian moves, and led aggressive probes into crimes against democracy.

Remarkable already, yes?

Here's more food for thought if you're asking the question we hear often: "Why Brazil?"

Parallel Crises

In Brazil, former president Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly attacked the integrity of the electoral system, much as President Trump has in the United States. Both leaders cast doubt on voting technology, framed independent courts as enemies, and portrayed political opponents as existential threats.

The parallels didn’t end with rhetoric.

On January 8, 2023, Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in Brasília, a clear echo of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In both cases, crowds sought to overturn or delegitimize certified election results.

Institutional Response: Faster and Firmer

Brazil’s electoral authority, the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE), plays a far more centralized and proactive role than any U.S. election body. It regulates campaigns, combats disinformation in real time, and can remove online content that threatens electoral integrity. While such powers raise legitimate questions about free speech under what in the U.S. is the First Amendment, they also demonstrate a willingness to treat election sabotage as an emergency rather than a partisan dispute.

Brazil’s Supreme Court, the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), acted decisively after the January 8 attacks, ordering investigations, arrests, and accountability measures quickly. Compare this to the often slow and politically fraught accountability processes in the United States.

To be clear, we are not romanticizing Brazil. Debates over judicial power are intense. But the speed and clarity of the institutional response sent a message: attacking democracy carries consequences.

Recognizing and Regulating the Digital Battlefield

Further, Brazil has been at the forefront of confronting digital disinformation. Courts have directly engaged with platforms like Meta Platforms and X to enforce compliance with electoral rules. Rather than leaving misinformation almost entirely to private moderation policies, Brazil treats online electoral manipulation as a public law issue.

In the United States, by contrast, First Amendment jurisprudence and political polarization have made robust regulation of election disinformation far more difficult. Yes, Brazil’s model is imperfect and some elements controversial, but it is still a model that can expand our civic imagination here in the U.S. around what is possible.

Brazilian organizations also recognize the danger of dis- and misinformation on a wide array of issues. Take, for example, this talk called "Lies Have a Price" by FALA founder Thais Lazzeri about the climate disinformation industry, including how it profits from spreading lies about the environment and slows the development of public policies that would benefit all of us around the globe:

Democracy as an Ongoing Project, Not an Assumption

Perhaps the most important lesson is cultural. Brazil rebuilt its modern democracy after a military dictatorship that ended in 1985. Its constitutional order is young and explicitly designed to prevent authoritarian backsliding. Democratic defense is written into its institutional DNA.

The United States, with its much older constitutional system, often treats democracy as self-executing. Brazil’s recent experience suggests the opposite: democracy survives when institutions, courts, civil society, and voters actively defend it.

For those in the U.S. concerned about democratic erosion, Brazil is not just a cautionary tale. It is a case study in democratic counter-mobilization. The lesson we seek to learn is not that Brazil has "solved" polarization or eliminated authoritarian temptations. It is that democratic institutions can adapt IF they are willing to do so.

In the United States, 2026 marks the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of INDEPENDENCE. Today, amidst global democratic strain, we have much to teach and much to learn, including the reality of INTERDEPENDENCE.

In an era when democratic resilience depends not on isolation but on shared vigilance, we must recognize that safeguarding democracy is a collective project. The Brazilian Blueprint recognizes that no nation can sustain democratic values alone; we must all defend them together.