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Good Government And Politics As Usual?: The Schizophrenic Path Of The Workers' Party, Benjamin Goldfrank, Brian Wampler

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

When Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva won Brazil's presidency in 2002, he and his Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores; PT) had most observers convinced that this was a watershed moment for the country's democracy. The victory of this former shoeshine boy, metalworker, and union leader symbolized to many the arrival to power of Brazil's excluded masses and the opportunity to put into practice the modo petista de governar (the PT way of governing), lauded as participatory, redistributive, and above all, transparent. Fourteen years of PT government and several astounding corruption scandals later, few illusions remain. The PT was gravely wounded …