This study offers a comprehensive analysis of how governance capacities in developing countries respond to the challenges that COVID-19 posed. We established a theoretical framework to delve into the multifaceted nature of governance capacities, exploring two distinct aspects of governance: the Weberian one, which focuses on material and organizational capacities, and the Tocquevillian one, which focuses on coordination and associational capacities. We examined these four governance dimensions to illustrate how these distinct skills influence the effectiveness of governance. Our analysis quantifies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic using such metrics as confirmed cases and deaths. We employ standard and dynamic panel data methodologies to mitigate potential omitted variable bias. Our research findings indicate that countries with robust governance capacities, as assessed by the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Transformation Governance Index, are better equipped to respond effectively to pandemic crises. By applying several models and rigorous robustness tests, we demonstrate efficient resource utilization, the ability to guide and prioritize decision-making within the government, and commitment to cooperation and coordination with other nations and international organizations are the primary drivers of improved outcomes. Our findings remain robust even when controlling for relevant variables and employing estimation techniques that account for potential biases arising from unobservable confounding factors.

What motivates voters to support candidates with backgrounds in public security for Brazil’s National Congress, the so-called Law & Order (L&O) politicians? The 2018 elections witnessed a surge in parliamentarians from police and military backgrounds and the election of a president closely aligned with this agenda. We explore whether this trend correlates with municipal-level violence indicators and the presence of municipal capacity in the security sector, employing various regression models that account for socioeconomic, demographic, political, and geographic factors. Our findings from the additive model reveal a negative association between the level of violence and votes for L&O candidates. This suggests a potential disconnection between fear, victimization, and support for repressive policies, while also indicating that local capacity in the security sector tend to enhance L&O candidates’ performance. However, our model incorporating the interaction between both variables uncovers that violence exacerbates the negative impact on L&O voting when the city has capacity in the security sector. This may reflect a municipal-level preference for preventive measures, particularly in more violent areas, which contrasts with the generally repressive stance of L&O candidates.

A growing body of literature suggests that the platformization of the public sphere is eroding the public debate, thus potentially leading to the fragmentation of the public sphere. While there exists mounting evidences supporting this perspective there also exists a substantial body of literature that suggests otherwise. Within this realm of mixed evidence, studies on climate change visibility play a prominent role, presenting findings that both weaken and reinforce the fragmentation hypothesis. To investigate this matter in a context conducive for a fragmented public sphere, we collected a longitudinal (2014-2022) and cross-platform (Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) dataset (n=794.281) and correlated it with a secondary database on the press coverage of climate change in Brazil (n=3.490). Our analysis reveals a robust positive correlation between these datasets, indicating that the Brazilian public sphere retains the capacity to interconnect various arenas of visibility. We argue that this finding is particularly significant, given that it emanates from a case characterized by circumstances favoring a high degree of public sphere fragmentation. Consequently, our discovery lends support to a less pessimistic assessment of the influence of platformization on political communication within the deliberative system.

It is well known that during times of social unrest, replacing the constitution is one of the first proposals to emerge, at least in Latin America, as if this constitutional shift could resolve any problem. Constitutional substitution is not a new phenomenon in Latin America; it actually began after the region’s redemocratization. However, it is striking that, despite similar conditions of social unrest, many other countries in the region have not undergone such an encompassing constitutional reform. Our main focus here is to analyze the persistence of constitutions in Latin American countries. We thus ask: What conditions lead democratic countries to keep their constitutions? Using a configurational approach, our preliminary results are promising. Together, four pathways explain why some countries have not replaced their constitutions in democratic contexts, with special emphasis on the number of rights enshrined in these fundamental laws.

Integrationist methodologies to climate justice aim to formulate a conception of justice that encompasses principles of global and intergenerational justice, arguing we should treat climate issues in the light of this general theory. In this article, we contend that there are compelling reasons to pursue a minimal conception of justice, and, within this context, Rawls' late conception of public reason is particularly relevant. We propose that a minimal conception of justice for an integrationist approach need not be bound by specific overarching global principles to govern the global international society. The mechanism of public reason can facilitate agreement between climate issues and other related issues by allowing countries to appeal to reasons that reflect the shared and implicit values of constitutional democracies found in international institutions. Although this approach may introduce more ambiguity, it also results in a less idealized scenario, which in turn can contribute to integrating climate and social justice at a minimal level. In summary, we advocate for a two-fold approach, involving both a far-reaching maximum conception of justice and a flexible minimal conception that prioritizes international deliberation and shared values as the means to address diverse dimensions of justice within the global context.

The sixth IPCC report states that a proper conception of climate justice that can address the complexity of the phenomenon of anthropogenic climate change as a whole requires considering not only one but rather three dimensions of justice today: redistributive, procedural, and recognition dimensions. In this article, my focus is on exploring the latter dimension, drawing special attention to climate policies addressing cultural-identity issues. In the first section, I illustrate how climate policies can be connected to discriminatory practices against minority cultures and their identities. To do so, I take the struggles of Black movements against environmental racism and the struggles of Indigenous peoples against a colonialist cultural heritage as case studies. In the second section, I look into the most advanced normative model to address the dimension of recognition, its advantages, and how it addresses the so-called ‘institutionalization of cultural patterns’ in climate policies: the Nancy Fraser model. Finally, in the third section, I investigate an aspect that remains open. It concerns the matter of how to use institutional authority to ‘deinstitutionalize’ non-ecological cultural patterns, while respecting pluralism and avoiding falling into the risks of institutional paternalism.

This paper elucidates the inseparable connection between the pursuit of a more ecologically sustainable society and the quest for socioeconomic justice. It also demonstrates why Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) is an effective policy to act on both fronts. First, the corresponding theory on environmental and socioeconomic oppression sheds light on the argument that both types of domination stem from the same historical process and are inherently interconnected. Addressing one without considering the other is essentially flawed; they are both features and consequences of present society. Acknowledging the historical debt owed to vulnerable economic classes and developing countries is imperative. Green republicanism could potentially establish a theoretical foundation for social-ecological thinking. Defining freedom as non-domination and applying this concept to nature are essential prerequisites for overcoming socioeconomic and environmental oppression. UBI is presented and discussed theoretically as a strong solution to address these two challenges. It serves not only as a means to facilitate the transition to a post-productivist society, transforming labor relations, but also as a catalyst for the development of circular economies and more sustainable occupations. Additionally, the basic income policy implemented in the city of Maricá, Brazil, is cited as empirical evidence showcasing the environmental and socioeconomic values of UBI.

This article examines the changes in the profiles of candidates associated with the Federal Police over five elections for the Chamber of Deputies in Brazil, from 2002 to 2018, as well as the variations in their campaign discourses. To achieve this, the candidates were mapped using data from the Superior Electoral Court and other accessible sources. Campaign material available on the Internet was also collected. The data show that, in addition to the increase in the number of candidates linked to the Federal Police, there is a trend towards political professionalization, more participation from union and association leaders of the Federal Police in the analyzed elections, and a closer alignment of these candidates with center-right and right-wing parties. In 2010, Federal Police officers began using the ‘fight against corruption’ theme as an electoral asset in their election campaigns. We argue that these transformations occurred due to internal changes in the Federal Police, especially increased investment in the agency during Lula's first term (2003-2006), changes in the union activities of those linked to this agency, and the contextual effects of the Lava Jato operation.

This article explores and evaluates recent conceptual and theoretical developments in the literature on climate justice. Initially shaped by the first generation of IPCC reports and rooted in applied ethics, early climate justice debates framed the climate crisis mainly as a mitigation issue, exacerbated by global and intergenerational collective action dilemmas, requiring ethical principles for resolution. However, with increasingly dire climate forecasts and the policy inertia of the past three decades, climate justice theories have shifted toward a political economy-centered approach. This shift reframes the issue from simply setting just emissions standards to addressing questions of productive justice within a historically situated global energy regime. The article concludes by addressing two critical challenges for production-focused climate justice theories: how to implement radical political action and how to reconceptualize our normative relationship with future generations.

Machiavelli’s republicanism is grounded on two primary aspirations: the preservation of freedom within republics and the expansion of their territories. However, these goals are not indefinitely compatible, as an imperialist foreign policy ultimately undermines a free way of life. An influential understanding of Machiavelli’s ‘republican dilemma’ suggests that he unequivocally prioritized imperial expansion over preserving freedom when these ends collided. This interpretation points to Machiavelli’s endorsement of the Roman model, which sacrificed its own freedom to expand its dominion over other peoples, as evidence of such a preference. This article challenges the notion of Machiavelli's imperialist intent, arguing that this interpretation not only overlooks Machiavelli’s critique of Roman imperialism but also ignores a non-imperialist alternative to territorial expansion presented in the ‘Discorsi’: the formation of leagues or confederations of free states for mutual defense. The league-based model of territorial expansion is the only approach that can effectively update Machiavelli’s international thought, aligning best with the contemporary republican ideal of freedom as non-domination.

This article examines the effect of democratic attitudes on voting in 2022. Our hypothesis is that the rising prominence of the topic of democracy in politics and in the public debate, starting in 2013 and becoming more pronounced after 2018, resulted in a division of the electorate into two camps based on their varying degrees of support for democratic principles — something not observed in earlier elections. To test this hypothesis, we utilized two surveys: the 2010 AmericasBarometer and the 2023 Clivagens Políticas no Brasil. The overall result shows that democratic attitudes — such as support for voting as a method for selecting who governs, the separation of powers, political participation, the rule of law, and minority rights — played a more significant role in explaining the vote for president in 2022 than they did in 2010. More than that, we identified a dominant pattern: except for political participation, there is a positive relationship between democratic attitudes and the vote for Lula.

Brazil faces widespread illegal gold mining, particularly in the Amazon rainforest, with profound environmental, economic, and social implications, as half of the country's gold output is suspected of having dubious origin. This paper delves into how regulations have shaped Brazil's gold industry over the years and fostered illegality. It also brings to light recent advancements in this field, such as adopting electronic invoices for the wildcat gold trade and suspending the ‘good faith’ presumption applied to wildcat gold transactions, which previously undermined accountability. Despite these significant strides, the paper emphasizes the ongoing need for measures to regulate the gold industry, bolster law enforcement, and mitigate environmental and social damage.