Abuse of Rhetorical Power and Presidential Impeachment in Brazil: Reflections from Legal History
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63277/gsc.v40i.4445Abstract
This article presents the argument that rhetorical abuse by presidents may theoretically constitute an impeachable offense in Brazilian law. Since impeachments are instruments to contain abuse of power by presidents, and rhetorical power is a form of exercising power in presidential democracies, there is no reason to a priori exclude abuse of rhetorical power from the range of impeachments. I argue that both the theoretical concept of impeachable offenses, and its peculiar statutory definition in Brazilian constitutional law, call for the interpretation that rhetorical abuse does not fall outside the range of presidential impeachments. My analysis draws on theory as well as precedents of Brazilian impeachments. It also considers the institutional role of impeachments in presidential democracies, notably the United States, the model that inspired the design of presidential impeachments in Brazil.
