The present study explores the presence of religion in the political field in Brazil through a populist discourse. The aim of this study is to understand how religion is used in populist discourse, contributing to studies regarding populist rhetoric, in terms of the reasons as well as the effects of that. The base of this study is the analysis of the political discourse of the electoral campaign of Jair Bolsonaro, elected President of Brazil in 2018. The Theory of Critical Discourse Analysis or Tridimensional Theory of Norman Fairclough is used in a theoretical and methodological perspective, using the formal features of the discourse texts for explaining how religion is present in the political field. The data consists in the analysis of the videos published in the official YouTube Channel of the candidate during the period of the electoral campaign, considering also the three first speeches after winning the elections. The findings demonstrate that religion is not quantitatively present in the source material, however, the analysis suggests a possibility of the existence of a “religious populism”, since the centrality of religion would make this presence qualitative. This centrality is suggested through the verification of four perspectives, which consist in the presence of religion as Legitimacy of the Presidency; as Formal Content; through the Subjects who participate of the electoral campaign; and in the material form, through the Fundamentalist Content of the discourse. Finally, the study contributes to the field of political rhetoric in a sense of providing a partial analysis of a political discourse that had the power of convincing the largest country of South America, suggesting the reasons and effects it may promote in that society.

This study examines how the attacks of the Capitol and the Brazilian congress, presidential palace and supreme court are framed in three Swedish newspapers. The newspapers are Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet and Aftonbladet. Furthermore the two attacks are compared with each other. The study uses a qualitative and comparative method. Framing theory is used as the theoretical framework. The results show that the two attacks have many similarities such as anti democratic values, a rhetoric which endorses violence, power hungry ex-presidents and two countries divided by polarization. There are however differences where the framing of Capitol focuses on the Republican party, Trump’s decay of support and a trigger in the shape of Trump’s 6th january speech. The framing of the attack in Brasília focuses on the attempts of installing a military rule and Bolsonaro’s silence. There is need for further scientifical research to get a broader understanding of the phenomenon.

[pt] Frente aos acontecimentos advindos do enfrentamento da pandemia de Covid-19 no Brasil, o presente trabalho se propõe a uma análise das práticas e discursos do governo no combate ao vírus através da identificação de estratégias negacionistas por ele utilizadas. Assim, com o objetivo de entender como este movimento influenciou as ações do governo durante o período, principalmente na escolha pelo uso da cloroquina como foco do combate, e seus impactos tanto na política e opinião pública como nas instituições estatais. O trabalho analisa os discursos e as práticas do governo Bolsonaro para entender como o negacionismo foi articulado para o fim de promover o uso de um medicamento comprovadamente ineficaz, impactando assim na efetividade das medidas sanitárias e não sanitárias de combate à pandemia. / [en] Faced with the events arising from the actions against the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, this present work proposes an analysis of the practices and speeches of the government regarding the confrontation of the virus through the identification of denialist strategies used by it. Thus, with the objective of understanding how this movement influenced government actions during this period, principally in the choice of using chloroquine as the main course of action, and its impacts both on public politics and opinion as on the state institutions. The work analyses the speeches and practices of Bolsonaro and his government to understand how denialism was articulated in order to promote the use of a medicine prove ineffective, with that, impacting the effectiveness of sanitary and nonsanitary measures to combat the pandemic.

This study seeks to examine the how populism impacts foreign policy discourse. The study applies role theory to the empirical case of the Brazil-China bilateral relationship in order to observe changes within role conceptions or role prescriptions before and after the election of populist leader Jair Bolsonaro. The research question put forward is   As a result of the election of populist president Jair Bolsonaro, in the case of the bilateral relationship between Brazil and China, has 1)    the role conception of Brazil’s own role changed, and if so, how? 2)    the role prescription of Chinas role changed, if so, how?    3 hypotheses are developed, based on the chosen definitions of populism, and tested on the material. The chosen materials for the study are speeches and tweets by incumbent presidents or other high-ranking officials. The data has been collected from Brazil’s ministry of foreign affairs website, or the official government website of Brazil. The chosen methodology is a qualitative text analysis. The study finds support for two out of the three hypotheses. These relate to anti-pluralism and anti-elitism as central aspects of populist discourse. The study does not find bad manners to be a key aspect of populist foreign policy discourse. The analysis reveals that the role conception has changed in some ways whilst the role prescription has remained strikingly similar.

The present study explores Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s online communication on the microblogging platform Twitter. The study aims to present the populist characteristics embedded in the president’s tweets, as well as the strategies he uses in his communication on the social media platform. The pillars that structure this work are the different theories on the topic of populism, which address central points concerning the phenomenon’s characteristics, such as dichotomization between groups (the good and the bad people), a strong anti-establishment stance, creation of scapegoats and enemies, and the centrality of the leader. Additionally, theories that explain the relationship between populism and social media are also employed for the full comprehension of the problem at hand. The analysis examines Bolsonaro’s first year in office (2019) and focuses mainly on three different periods within that year. The data consists of 110 tweets submitted to analysis utilizing Discourse-Historical Approach, an analytical approach with a strong focus on context. The findings show how Bolsonaro’s communication on Twitter is immersed and dependent on strategies common to populist discourse, employing argumentative and discursive strategies that rely on the aspects such as topoi, the demonization of others, shifting of blame, positive self- and negative other- presentation, provocation and calculated ambivalence. This study contributes to the understanding of populist online communication in the Brazilian context, shedding light on the phenomenon of populism, in particular the current populist wave, outside the European and North American contexts, expanding the understanding about the topic to the global south.

This thesis analyzes the impact of the Evangelical movement on politics in Latin America, through case studies on of revolutionary leftist Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and far right Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. Both the Chávez and Bolsonaro political machineries reached out to the Evangelical movement and aligned themselves with new social and political actors associated with this movement. Though these two leaders promised very different programs, they both successfully sought the support of leaders and members of the Evangelical movement. The contradictory context of these two cases in terms of political platforms, their shared association with the Evangelical church, generates a puzzle of similar religious organizations supporting vastly dissimilar political movements. This thesis uses a process tracing methodology to address this puzzling alignment of conservative religious organizations with both ultra conservative and revolutionary leftist political parties in the two countries.

In recent years, Brazil has clearly undergone a shift in its handling of the South Americancooperation. One of the pointed reasons have been the recent ideological changes and disputes inthe country, which can be especially observed in the PT and Jair Bolsonaro governments,respectively. The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the Brazilian treatment of theSouth American relations during these contemporary presidencies, and address the prevailing ideasduring each period of time. In discussing it through the lenses of constructivism, the conclusion isthat norms and identities have played a central role in the formulation of Brazilian foreign policyduring the 21st century. As far as the South American cooperation is concerned, it was noted howthe respective governments sought stronger cooperation with like-minded neighboring countries.Moreover in Brazil, changes in international norms have coincided with a greater emphasis onnational identity and a new direction for the South-American cooperation. / Nos últimos anos, o Brasil passou claramente por uma mudança no tratamento da cooperação sulamericana. Uma das razões apontadas têm sido as recentes mudanças e disputas ideológicas no país,que podem ser observadas especialmente nos governos PT e Jair Bolsonaro, respectivamente. Oobjetivo deste estudo é analisar e comparar o tratamento brasileiro das relações sul-americanasdurante essas presidências contemporâneas e abordar as ideias prevalecentes em cada período. Aodiscuti-las pelas lentes do construtivismo, conclui-se que as normas e identidades desempenharamum papel central na formulação da política externa brasileira durante o século XXI. No que dizrespeito à cooperação sul-americana, observou-se como os respectivos governos buscaram umacooperação mais forte com países vizinhos com ideias semelhantes. Além disso, no Brasil, asmudanças nas normas internacionais coincidiram com uma maior ênfase na identidade nacional eum novo rumo para a cooperação sul-americana.

This study seeks to explain political leaders' motives to action, by studying how Jair Bolsonaro and Emmanuel Macron have acted in the matter of the fires in the Amazon rainforest. It is assumed that while political leaders may try to act rationally, they are influenced by psychological factors in terms of educational background and style. The theories of rational choice and political psychology are therefore used and integrated to explain their motives. The method used in the paper is a comparative qualitative content analysis, in which various statements and speeches made by the Presidents are read and analyzed. The results of the thesis show that for Bolsonaro, the Amazon fires is an internal matter and should be handled by the Amazonian countries. He seems to be seeking to achieve national goals, while being influenced by his conservative educational background. Macron indicates that the Amazon is an issue for the international community and that it is of major importance for the whole world. He appears to be seeking international goals, while being influenced by his liberal educational background. The assumption that political leaders' style influence their motives to action is not supported.

By a common characterization of populism as a threat to democracy, this study further examines whether populism entails a threat or a corrective to democracy. The research is based on the theoretical framework by Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser and Cas Mudde which emphasizes the inclusion and exclusion factor of populism to determine the impact on democracy. Thus, the study characterizes the inclusionary and exclusionary populism regarding rhetoric towards indigenous peoples. In account of populism in government and populism in opposition to impact democracy differently, the empirical case study outlines Jair Bolsonaro and Gustavo Petro. A text analysis with focus on content analysis reflects the methodological approach by analyzing quotations of populists connected to indigenous peoples. The conclusion follows that Gustavo Petro indicates inclusionary populism while Jair Bolsonaro indicates exclusionary populism.

CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE Institute of Political Science Department of Geopolitical Studies Master's Thesis Populism and the Covid-19 Pandemic in Latin America: A Case Study of Brazil Abstract The Covid-19 pandemic confronted the world with a global health crisis like never before. Unlike some countries which were able to manage the crisis with little loss, some countries failed. This thesis offers an extensive analyses Brazil's Covid-19 response with a primary focus on President Bolsonaro's populist nature. It aims to discover a correlation between the political leadership style of populism and poor Covid-19 management in Brazil. In order to accomplish that, the two concepts of medical populism and the performance of crisis have been applied to the case study, by investigating Bolsonaro's social media presence and public statements. The results displayed that Bolsonaro attempted to perform a crisis by simplifying the crisis and propagating his performance, but untimely failed to successfully perform the crisis. In addition, the results also indicate that Bolsonaro exercised medical populism by attempting to pit the people against the establishment and creating a dramatic and spectacular depiction of a public health crisis. Ultimately, the research will conclude that Bolsonaro's...