From the Banestado Case to Operation Car Wash: Building an Anti-Corruption Institutional Framework in Brazil

The article analyzes the development process of a new anti-corruption institutionality in Brazil, based mainly on judicial tools and on the legal system – police officers, prosecutors, and judges – that finds its highest expression during the Operation Car Wash. The hypothesis is that the new anti-corruption institutionality was built in the first term through justice policies coordinated by the Federal government, but was taken over by the Public Prosecution’s Office and the Judiciary. The article highlights the main characteristics of the new anti-corruption institutionality and introduces its historical construction, frame by frame, based on the evolution of task forces in Brazil from the Banestado Case to Operation Car Wash.

task-force; corruption; democracy; accountability; institutional change