From the «Riffraff's Despotism» to the «Washed Tie Democracy»

History of the Concept Democracy in Brazil (1770-1870)

Abstract

This article attempts to provide a history of the concept of democracy in Brazil between 1770 and 1870, during which prevailed in the period a strong tension between the concepts of representative government and democracy. Conservatives interpreted the constitutional monarchy as a mixed government, rejecting democracy as incompatible with the unique character of the Brazilian population, slave, illiterate and irregularly distributed throughout the country. Although critics of the Conservatives, attacked as aristocrats, the Liberals maintained a very ambiguous relationship to democracy, as they feared the egalitarian pretensions of the lower classes, including slaves. Therefore, they preferred to reconcile with the constitutional monarchy representative, postponing his ideals for a democratic republican or distant future. This fact did not prevent them from defending an interpretation more «democratic», ie parliamentary and Federal, of the Monarchy.