“I AM THE CONSTITUTION!”: Bolsonaro government and use of coercive instruments on behalf of the State

Abstract

The article presents theoretical and critical analysis on the State/Government/Individuals relations, from three real situations in which the government of Jair Messias Bolsonaro (2019-2022) used coercive mechanisms and instruments to punish individuals who manifest against his government. The objective of this article is to analyze the discourse and action of the Bolsonaro government, in face of these manifestations. It also reflects the concepts of State, democracy and how these are used to interest and maintenance of power, rescuing them as symbolic elements present in the social imaginary. Based on factors present in political anthropology, which, through its perceptions of the objective and subjective reality of individuals, guide us to an understanding the social reality, in which elements that apparently are incongruous, such as the authoritarian and anti-democratic speeches of President Bolsonaro, make sense in the subjective and symbolic dynamics of some social groups. Methodologically, a bibliographic research was adopted, as well as the analysis of three news with national repercussion. Thus, it was possible to observe the interest and power games within political relations in democratic states. The analysis of this theoretical field, with the comparisons of journalistic material, demonstrated the expanded reality, beyond established models and concepts, understanding the singularity of Brazilian democracy from the social reality of individuals and their groups.