Measuring public support for Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court: trust and institutional legitimacy

The article examines the public image of the Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF), seeking to identify whichfactors help to explain public trust in this institution, based on data from a public opinion survey thatinterviewed a sample of 1,650 Brazilians between November 2020 and January 2021. In dialog with...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Oliveira, Fabiana Luci, Cunha, Luciana Gross, Ramos, Luciana de Oliveira
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2024
Country:Brasil
Institution:Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)
Repository:Opinião Pública (Online)
Language:Portuguese
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br:article/8678202
Online Access:https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/op/article/view/8678202
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Brazil’s Supreme Court
Trust
Public support
Loyalty
Legitimacy
Covid-19
STF
Confiança
Apoio público
Lealdade
Legitimidade
Supremo Tribunal Federal
Confianza
Apoyo público
Lealtad
Legitimidad
Description
Summary:The article examines the public image of the Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF), seeking to identify whichfactors help to explain public trust in this institution, based on data from a public opinion survey thatinterviewed a sample of 1,650 Brazilians between November 2020 and January 2021. In dialog withthe literature on trust in the US Supreme Court, four explanatory hypotheses for trust in the STF weretested, considering 1) the level of familiarity with the court; 2) the level of loyalty to the court; 3) theperception that Justices engage in politics in their own way that is distinguishable from ordinary politicsand 4) the perception of the performance of the court in cases related to Covid-19. The results of thelogistic regression model led to the conclusion that in the case of the Brazilian and US Supreme Courtstrust seems to be explained by a combination of short and long-term evaluations of the institution,although, in Brazil, differently than in the US, short-term perceptions have greater predictive power,impacting institutional trust more strongly.