Brazilian Politics in Turmoil as General Election Nears

The social media-savvy right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro is the front-runner in Brazil’s 2018 presidential election. A wave of high-profile corruption scandals, which has decimated the country’s political elite, is one reason for his growing popularity. Yet as Wilson Center Fellow Carlos Eduardo Lins da Silva explains, the wide dispersal of popular support among his rival candidates is another reason for Bolsonaro’s unlikely ascent. As Brazilians are heading to the polls this fall, getAbstract recommends da Silva’s pre-election analysis to everybody who wants an overview of the political dynamics at play.