Political Memory, Authoritarian Legacies, and the Quality of Democracy: Considerations for a Comparison Between Brazil and Argentina.

Abstract

Within the context of the Cold War, Brazil and Argentina experienced national security dictatorships responsible for a many violations of human rights. With the transitions, Argentina and Brazil returned to democracy although persistence of a series of authoritarian legacies can be observed in the new social-political scenario. The present study analyzes: a) which legacies of authoritarianism currently remain in these countries; b) which public policies were pursued to deal with the crimes committed by the authoritarian regime; and c) how the maintenance of these authoritarian legacies can have repercussions in the quality of democracy.