PAULO BONAVIDES AND THE CRITIC ON CONSERVATIVE JURISTS: HOW THE ALLEGED “IDEOLOGICAL NEUTRALITY” HAVE FAVORED THE COUP D’ETAT ATTEMPT IN BRAZIL

Abstract

Paulo Bonavides is a key law thinker to comprehend the actual crisis of Brazilian democracy, because his expressive and influent texts on Constitutional Law or Political Science aims to explain the reasons concerning the gap between national institutions and social goals. Recognizing the neoliberal attack on the Social State, the author argue how that ideology fosters institutional coup d’Etat, overthrowing the Constitution. Among the critics on neoliberalism, one must point out the powerful characteristic related to “ideological neutrality”, utilized by conservative jurists in Brazil. Thus, the present paper aims to question how that thesis have favored the coup d’Etat attempt in Brazil on January 2023. The methodology utilized comprehends Bonavides’ lessons and apply them to this reality, uniting theory and practice through a theory of law that accepts the conexion between law and politics, with attention to historic facts in the province of tridimensional character of law. In conclusion, it is argued that the intimidation and the process of delegitimating caused by the official use of the neutrality thesis against those who fought against the constitutional erosion comprehends one of the factors thar facilitated the rise of the coup attempt, because it acted to forbid its prevention.