The constitutions of the Vargas era, from the perspective of authoritarian thought of the 1930s doi: 10.5007/2175-7984.2010v9n17p259

Abstract

This paper looks at the 1934 and 1937 Constitutions from the perspective of the influence that Brazilian authoritarian thought – the only bearer of an effective State ideology during the period - had on them. Taking the general role that constitutions have had within modern societies into account (the building of a modern State based on the law and the expression of the people´s will) and the specific one that was imposed by the national context (re-founding of the State), study of these two constitutions confirms the political protagonism that this current of thought took on, placing due attention on the ambiguities they contained. For these purposes, we have conducted a detailed analysis of both constitutions, while at the same time finding some parallels with the ideological themes and categories of the State that we have denominated as Brazilian Authoritarian Thought  (Pensamento Autoritário Brasileiro (PAB) and with the Constitutions of 1891 and 1946. We have, in this regard, sought to reveal the essence of these constitutions, analyzing them not as mere juridical texts but as legislation that must be understood within a specific political and cultural environment.