The vicious cycle of repression
between punitive populism and democratic collapse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20271518Keywords:
punitivism, penal populism, symbolic criminal law, fundamental guarantees, criminal policyAbstract
This paper examines the expansion of punitivism in Brazilian criminal law, showing how legislative hardening, driven by media sensationalism and penal populism, undermines the rationality of the legal system and the principles of the Democratic Rule of Law. It argues that the toughening of sentences, when unaccompanied by structural prevention policies, proves ineffective in addressing crime while eroding historically achieved fundamental guarantees. The study advocates for criminal policy guided by empirical evidence, proportionality, and respect for fundamental rights.
Downloads
References
FRANCO, Alberto Silva. Há produto novo na praça. Boletim IBCCRIM, São Paulo, v. 6, n. esp. 70, p. 6, 1998. Disponível em: https://publicacoes.ibccrim.org.br/index.php/boletim_1993/issue/view/330. Acesso em: 7 abr. 2026.
HASSEMER, Wilfried. Perspectivas de uma moderna política criminal. Revista Brasileira de Ciências Criminais, v. 2, n. 8, 1994.
INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE CIÊNCIAS CRIMINAIS. A (ir)racionalidade do processo legislativo penal. Boletim IBCCRIM, São Paulo, v. 30, n. 355, p. 2, 2022.
NAHUM, Marco Antônio Rodrigues. A repressão ao crime e o antiterrorismo. Boletim IBCCRIM, São Paulo, v. 11, n. 128, p. 2-3, 2003. Disponível em: https://publicacoes.ibccrim.org.br/index.php/boletim_1993/issue/view/269. Acesso em: 6 abr. 2026.
SHECAIRA, Sérgio Salomão. A mídia e o Direito Penal. Boletim IBCCRIM, São Paulo, v. 4, n. 45, p. 16, 1996. Disponível em: https://publicacoes.ibccrim.org.br/index.php/boletim_1993/issue/view/445. Acesso em: 6 abr. 2026.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright of published articles belongs to the author, but with journal rights over the first publication and respecting the one-year exclusivity period. Authors may only use the same results in other publications by clearly indicating this journal as the medium of the original publication. If there is no such indication, it will be considered a situation of self-plagiarism.
Therefore, the reproduction, total or partial, of the articles published here is subject to the express mention of the origin of its publication in this journal, citing the volume and number of this publication. For legal purposes, the source of the original publication must be consigned, in addition to the DOI link for cross-reference (if any).
