Democracy as an experiment

Brazil projects through ordinary writing

Abstract

The drafting of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution involved the interaction of multiple social actors, including civil society, which organized itself to debate, influence, and monitor the constitutional process. This study investigates the perceptions of ordinary men and women who experienced that historical moment—what they hoped for, desired, and believed would happen with the promulgation of the new Constitution. Our primary sources are letters sent to the National Constituent Assembly by residents of the state of Piauí between 1986 and 1987. Focusing on this Northeastern state allows us to explore how the population of this region engaged with the democratic reorganization underway. We regard the form-letters as privileged sources, as they enable an analysis that goes beyond the formal political arenas—commissions and party offices—shedding light on how the Constituent Assembly reverberated in everyday life. Debates also took place in streets, assemblies, associations, and churches, driven by a widespread desire for change. Theoretical grounding for this study is provided by Reinhart Koselleck’s (2006) categories of "space of experience" and "horizon of expectations." To contextualize the production of these popular suggestions, we also examine other forms of civil society participation during the Constituent process, linking them to broader economic and cultural dynamics through the analysis of newspapers, bibliographic sources, and the constitutional text itself.