Taking minorities seriously

reinforcing the role of counter-majoritarian institutions in the face of autocratic legalism and populism

Abstract

The global political landscape has shown that even the most stable democracies are subject to decline due to gradual weakening caused, above all, by autocratic legalism, abusive constitutionalism, and populism. These authoritarian practices usually weaken the liberal essence of democracy, particularly affecting politically minority groups, such as indigenous peoples, quilombola communities, women, Afro-descendants, the LGBTQ+ community, among others. In Brazil, the year 2019 was permeated by intimidating speeches, threats, and setbacks regarding hard-won rights for minorities, raising concerns about the health and integrity of the Democratic Rule of Law, whose existence cannot exist without an institutional network capable of guaranteeing respect for the system of checks and balances, the accountability of rulers, civil liberties, and pluralism. From this perspective, the aim is to analyze the anti-liberal practices that signal a democratic decline in the national territory and to reinforce the importance of due legislative process and constitutional review as institutions that guarantee the rules of the political game and the pluralistic essence of democracy. Given the relevance of their function in the political sphere, awareness and attention are needed so that these institutions maintain their functioning and are not themselves affected by anti-democratic modifications.