Thirty Years, One Constitution, Three Supreme Courts: Self-restraint, expansion and ambivalence

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the judicial behavior of the Brazilian Supreme Court under the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, in concern to the interpretation of its own competences and institutional role. It demonstrates that the Court faced three different moments on the matter: (i) a initial phase, which took place during the democratic transition term, characterized by decisions limiting its jurisdiction and refusing to exercise all of them (self-restraining phase); (ii) a second phase, during which the Court expanded its competences, interfered with the political process and began the struggle against corruption, conquering reputation before the public opinion (expansion phase); (iii) the current phase, defined by: the intensification of the struggle against corruption, ambivalent decisions of the Court and the consumption of the political capital conquered in the past (reverse phase).