Religion and Democracy: How Partisanship and Religious Affiliation Impact Democratic Participation in Brazil

The 2018 national elections in Brazil underscored the growing political influence of religious leaders even as it highlighted growing dissatisfaction with Brazil’s political class. Yet scholars are only now beginning to examine the impact of religion on representation, politics and democracy in Brazil, even as the political and religious landscape has transformed drastically in recent decades.

On Tuesday, February 25th the Brazil Institute hosted a discussion on the implications of religious engagement for democratic participation and partisanship with Dr. Amy Erica Smith, author of Religion and Brazilian Democracy: Mobilizing the People of God. Dr. Smith draws on interviews, survey data, and experimental results to provide a comprehensive account of the nuanced dynamics of religion and politics in Brazil. She was joined by political scientist Margaret Keck, author of The Workers' Party and Democratization in Brazil and coauthor of Greening Brazil: Environmental Activism in State and Society.