| Abstract: | This article has two purposes. The first is to analyze politically why the Cardoso government's social security reform could not be completed. Though democratic political systems (election and political party systems) were reintroduced after the re‐democratization in 1985, Brazil continued to suffer from elements of its traditional political culture such as corporatism, clientelism, nepotism, etc. These were the stumbling blocks for Cardoso's reform. The second purpose is to deepen understanding of Brazilian democracy by casting light on the behavior of political actors (the government, congress, and political parties) over social security reform issues under the Cardoso and Lula governments. |
