Por Thiago Filippo. A história da cadeira no Supremo Tribunal Federal (“STF”) a que se tentou indicar Jorge Messias, rejeitado pelo Senado em 29/04/2026, é o fio condutor pelo qual podemos elucidar alguns aspectos de como essas vagas normalmente são obtidas e por que razões o evento foi tão extraordinário.

Por Wayne Selcher. The worrisome shift toward a more conflictful political culture in the country preceded Trump’s Republican nomination in 2016, and the dissatisfaction in society is much deeper and lasting than him or his skillful role in harnessing and encouraging that discontent in national politics. A Yahoo News/YouGov survey in June 2022 stated that “Half of Americans now predict U.S. may ‘cease to be a democracy’ someday.” An NPR/Ipsos poll in early 2022 showed broad concerns in the public about the future of democracy in the U.S., concluding, “Overall, 64% agree that American democracy is in crisis and at risk of failing. Even more, 70%, feel the same about America itself.” This sentiment is stronger among Republicans, many of whom accepted Trump’s unproven and increasingly discredited claim that he won the November 2020 election. A 2022 Quinnipiac University national poll found that “nearly six in ten think the nation’s democracy is in danger of collapse,” which instability the respondents saw as a bigger threat to the country than foreign adversaries.

Por Wayne Selcher. Both parties have moved away from the traditional center in the last decade or so, broadening the active range across the political spectrum (especially on the far right), a definite contrast from the 1990s. The Republican Party has shifted far more so, taken over from the more moderate former leadership by Trump and the populist, highly personalistic Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement under his sway. Political scientist Pippa Norris demonstrates, using an internationally comparative attitudes survey on two current wedge issues in American politics, that there is a strong conservative backlash against certain social attitude changes in the U.S.

Por Wayne Selcher. Conservative politicians and commentators with a wide audience have been encouraging a backlash of populist outrage, anti-intellectualism, mistrust of “experts,” and skepticism of the liberal establishment or privileged entrenched “elites” who are accused of “suppressing the truth” for their own self-interest. This distrust extends to and impacts public policy on election integrity, government trustworthiness and fairness, official corruption, the honesty of the mainstream media, and the relationship between science and public policy (including in public health and climate change), among other basic issues.