What is it about?
To understand populism it may be important to look into the role firms and businesspeople play in it. During the first half of the 1960s, a left-wing government was in power in Brazil. 'Businessmen' formed a coalition around a think tank to foster ideas that would challenge the government and produce dissensus. At the same time, they used the opportunity to advance policies that would later be implemented by the military dictatorship and favor their interests. We use this historical example to discuss how politics and policy sometimes appear together and sometimes are separated by populist actors and how businesspeople coalitions try to benefit from it sugar-coating their interests with right-wing rhetoric.
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Why is it important?
We show how businesspeople can form coalitions to influence policy. At the same time, they can ally with right-wing actors that build political support for otherwise unpopular reforms.
Perspectives
This work is important because it highlights that populists often build up support from business actors to finance and advance their agenda. We show that separating policy and politics can be instrumental for normalizing reforms that would otherwise be despised by citizens. Additionally, we highlight the potential role of think tanks and its sponsors in shaping public debates.
Amon Barros
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Brazilian businessmen movements: Right-wing populism and the (dis)connection between policy and politics, Organization, October 2019, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/1350508419883378.
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