Democracy, under-representation and state legitimacy crisis.

Abstract

This article makes considerations about the trend of democratic decline at a global level and its relationship with the processes that, in the case of Brazil, give rise to the maldistribution and abusive exercise of power, with impacts on the representation and the regime of liberties of the common citizen. The analysis is based on the observation that democracy has given worrying signs worldwide, linked to the discomfort of citizens (represented) with the actions of those elected to decide for society (representatives), which creates an environment propitious to attempts to adopt “illiberal” regimes. In the case of Brazil, it is stated that this mistrust in the political class is accentuated by typically local elements, of a historical, legal and political nature, favorable to political action in the name and in one's own interests, rather than in the name and in the interest of the community. Hence the need for corrections, from the way in which our representatives are chosen to the effective limits to their margin of action, under the risk of eventual ruptures, not necessarily for the better.