Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Harvey, David
Area of Concentration
History
Abstract
This thesis explores the relationship between popular perceptions of the police and the resulting quality of democracy, using post-dictatorial Brazil as a case study due to its colonial and authoritarian history and the conditional citizenship considered to arise from it. To do so it first examines the political history of Brazil, then the formal and informal roles of the police from the dictatorial period onwards and popular perceptions of effective justice, and finally evaluates the creation of a memory narrative under the current democratic regime and how it deals with a legacy of arbitrary violence, as well as the impact this narrative has on the Brazilian and international community. I argue that incomplete reforms and an exclusive history of repression and lack of accountability through amnesty and reinforced in accepted collective memory present significant challenges to the full consolidation of Brazilian democracy by preventing complete citizenship.
Recommended Citation
McCullough, Victoria, "WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN? AN ANALYSIS OF CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN SECURITY REFORM AND PERCEPTIONS OF DEMOCRACY IN BRAZIL" (2017). Theses & ETDs. 5384.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5384