Rule by Law in Democratic Regimes: How Legal Actors Undermined Democracy in Brazil

Abstract: This article analyzes how prosecutors, judges, and police officers coordinated efforts that undermined the rule of law in Brazil, the world's fourth-largest democracy. Such practices are often institutionalized in non-democratic regimes, where "rule by law" shapes judicial politics in an anti-democratic fashion. However, how legal actors leverage their networks within an independent judiciary to accelerate democratic backsliding has received less academic scrutiny. Drawing on data from leaked conversations among key legal professionals involved in Operation Car Wash, which culminated in the incarceration of Brazil's current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, this study examines how these stakeholders strategized and acted behind closed doors. As the data reveals the lead prosecutors and the presiding judge in this case employed legal and political tactics that influenced both Lula's conviction and the presidential election of Jair Bolsonaro in 2018. Consequently, the erosion of democratic institutions from within the state, which worsened under Bolsonaro, was also exacerbated by those tasked with protecting such institutions. Using evidence from Brazil, I conclude by reflecting on how the chats leaked by a free press helped counteract the abuse of prosecutorial and judicial power in a contemporary democracy facing authoritarian threats from within the legal system.