Análise da atuação do poder judiciário brasileiro na proteção da democracia como direito humano entre 2018 e 2025

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the role played by the Brazilian Judiciary, especially the Supreme Federal Court and the Superior Electoral Court, in guaranteeing and protecting the Democratic State in Brazil, due to institutional attacks perpetrated by public and political agents, with the purpose of eroding Brazilian democracy, considered a universal and fundamental human right, between 2018 and 2025. To address the problem, a qualitative, exploratory, and explanatory research approach was chosen, adopting the hypotheticaldeductive method and, subsidiarily and within the possibilities of the study, conducting a historical analysis of the Brazilian political scenario and a comparative analysis of the US democratic crisis since the first election of Donald Trump. The work included an approach to relevant judicial decisions issued by the Supreme Federal Court and the Superior Electoral Court, exploring their impacts on the protection of democracy. To answer the presented problem and the proposed objectives, the research had three sections: in the first section, the characterization of democracy as a human right was conceptually investigated; in the second section, the process of attempted erosion of the Democratic State in Brazil was explored, with a subsidiary analysis of the democratic crisis in the United States of America during Donald Trump's first term (2016-2020) and after his re-election in 2025, seeking similarities with the scenario experienced in Brazil; and in the third section, the role of the Judiciary in containing the threat of erosion of Brazilian democracy between 2018 and 2025 was analyzed. It was concluded, in the end, that the Brazilian Judiciary, alongside other actors such as the political opposition, sectors of civil society, and members of the Armed Forces, played a role in preventing the process of autocratization and enabling the maintenance of democracy in Brazil.