The article advances an analytical shift in debates on the militarization of public security in Brazil by treating it as a process of constructing and circulating expertise, rather than merely as institutional expansion or democratic backsliding. Drawing on sociology of expertise, it argues that the authority to name problems, define standards of evidence, and prescribe interventions is relational and contingent, and is produced through devices that stabilize languages and routines. Empirically, the article combines (i) a description of the historical series of Law-and-Order Guarantee operations (Glo), emphasizing their intermittent recurrence as a reactivable state repertoire, and (ii) analysis of doctrinal documents that transform episodic experience into portable and teachable competence. It shows how key manuals issued by the Ministry of Defense (2014) and by the Army (2018) codify operational categories, delimit exceptionality, establish inter-agency coordination arrangements, and provide templates for planning, communication, and accountability. In doing so, the article offers a complementary perspective to the established literature on the militarization of public security by specifying the mechanisms through which exceptional interventions become governable and defensible as management. Finally, it outlines research agendas on the genealogies and micropolitics of doctrinal production, translations between peacekeeping repertoires and domestic repertoires, and ecologies of credentials through which military experience is converted into public authority.
This article analyzes speeches on civilian armament by federal deputies from security forces in the Chamber of Deputies (1991-2025). A total of 1,740 speeches were collected and classified by position and arguments. The results show that although they represent 3% of deputies, uniformed politicians account for 15% of speeches on firearms. From the 55th legislature (2015-2019) onward, a pro-armament shift was observed, coinciding with the increase of these parliamentarians, who were responsible for 61% of speeches favorable to liberalization. The main arguments emphasize self-defense, the dichotomy of "good citizens versus criminals," and state failure. The study concludes that these deputies were central to transforming the debate, advocating individual responsibility for security to the detriment of state public security.
The article introduces the dossier dedicated to the relationships between violence, police, and politics in Brazil. It is grounded in the interpretation that violence constitutes a structuring element of Brazilian social history and of the production of public order. The text discusses transformations that have taken place since the country's redemocratization, such as the growing centrality of police institutions in the management of crime and the increasing participation of members of the security forces in institutional politics. It also examines the connections between police corporations, the security market, and the representative system, as well as the resurgence of political violence. Finally, the article presents and contextualizes the papers and interviews that compose the dossier, highlighting their contributions to the debate on democracy, violence, and punishment.
This article compares government programs of elected mayors from security forces with those of non-elected opponents in Brazil's 2024 municipal elections. Analysis of 74 candidacies, combining topic modeling (BERTopic) and qualitative validation, identifies systematic discursive patterns. Results show that both groups address the same thematic categories but establish distinct hierarchies: elected candidates concentrate discourse on Municipal Guard and police structure; non-elected emphasize rights protection. Ideology modulates discourse only among non-elected. The electoral success of policialism stems from converting institutional credentials into political capital.
This article aims to present an overview of the existing social science literature on the participation of police officers in the Brazilian political-electoral process. Since the country's re-democratization, numerous police officers have occupied prominent elected positions in both the Executive and Legislative branches, with a notable increase in police candidates emerging from the 2018 elections onward. As this phenomenon gained visibility in public debate, various studies were produced and published. It is therefore pertinent to ask: What scholarly works on this topic exist within the social sciences, what are their characteristics, and in what ways do they engage with one another? To provide a consistent response to this inquiry, a range ofpublication repositories (such as Google Scholar and SciELo), as well as additional sources, were consulted to identify and analyze the studies addressing this subject. At this stage of the research, forty-two works were found, published between 1998 and 2025, originating primarily from the fields of Political Science and Sociology, and most commonly in the form of theses, dissertations, and journal articles. Ultimately, the article argues that this body of literature may be organized into four thematic axes: "Political-electoral elements," "Representations of crime, violence, and punishment, "The Bancada da Bala," and "Political movements."
