Dilemas in the brazilian parliament (2015-2017)

an approach to the sociology of ethics

Abstract

The present article analyzes some recent events of the Brazilian parliamentary policy, between 2015 and 2017, from the point of view of the sociology of ethics. The first section identifies the theoretical referential and the analytical assumptions of the sociology of ethics from authors such as Kant, Stuart Mill, and Weber. The Weberian concepts of “ethics of conviction” and “ethics of responsibility” preside over the argument. The following sections synthesize four case studies in the Brazilian parliament where political parties’ decision dilemmas can be understood by the magnifying glass of the sociology of ethics: the election of Eduardo Cunha to the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies in 2015; cassation of Cunha in the Council of Ethics; the election of Deputy Rodrigo Maia to the presidency of the Chamber in 2016; and the re-election of Maia in 2017. Finally, some considerations about the methodological and explanatory validity of this approach proposed here.