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Article published In: The Populist Radical Right Beyond Europe
Edited by Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser and Lisa Zanotti
[Journal of Language and Politics 22:3] 2023
► pp. 324–341

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Jair Bolsonaro and the defining attributes of the populist radical right in Brazil

ORCiD logo with link | Alberto Hurtado University
Published online: 9 May 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22133.tan
Abstract
The presidential candidacy of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil in 2018 was the Populist Radical Right’s (PRR) first one to be electorally successful in Latin America. Although it is possible to assert that Bolsonaro belongs to the PRR given his political career, few studies have focused on the supply-side and Bolsonaro’s ideas and discourses. This article analyzes the relevance of the three defining attributes of the PRR – nativism, authoritarianism, and populism – in Bolsonaro’s ideological and programmatic platform. Based on an analysis of the 2018 electoral manifesto, campaign and government speeches, and social network posts, three arguments will be made: (i) authoritarianism is the primary defining attribute of Bolsonaro; (ii) populism only exists in the country associated with a solid negative political identity, an anti-Workers’ Party sentiment known in Brazil as antipetismo; and (iii) neoliberalism must be considered a fourth ideological element of the Brazilian PRR.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The rise and conceptualization of the populist radical right in Brazil
  • 3.Nativism, authoritarianism, and populism in the Brazilian populist radical right
  • 4.The workers’ party as the main antagonist of the Brazilian populist radical right
  • 5.Neoliberalism as the fourth ideological element of the Brazilian populist radical right
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (44)
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

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