Abusive constitutionalism is a phenomenon observed especially in Latin America, in which constitutional methods designed to increase popular participation in democracies are misused by authoritarian governments to disrupt democracy itself. The Brazilian election of 2018 is in debate, since Jair Bolsonaro’s Party (PSL) was accused of tampering with the electoral gender quota. Brazilian law dictates that a minimum of 30% of Legislative candidatures should be reserved for female candidates in each Party – in addition, 30% of public funds for campaigns shall be destined to female campaigns. PSL’s scheme involved submitting fake female candidacies with the intent of taking money destined to women’s campaigns in a fraudulent way, therefore embezzling the Electoral system. The purpose of this paper is to analyze these accusations through the concept of abusive constitutionalism, considering that the authoritarian government elected for presidency has been deceiving democratic instruments.
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