Coalition presidentialism is when a minority president must form coalitions in fragmented parliaments to govern. To do this, the president uses formal coalition-building methods, such as agenda...Show moreCoalition presidentialism is when a minority president must form coalitions in fragmented parliaments to govern. To do this, the president uses formal coalition-building methods, such as agenda-setting power, or informal methods associated with corruption, such as paying bribes. Corrupt practices are normally shielded by the Executive and Legislative from judicial and control bodies, however, sometimes anticorruption operations breach this blockage and shake the Executive-Legislative relations. Literature often covers the Executive- Legislative connection, but the influence of the Judiciary and control bodies on coalition- building methods is little explored. Hence, this thesis asks what the impact of large anticorruption operations on informal methods of coalition formation is. The thesis advances that by understanding such impact, one can better estimate the effectiveness of anticorruption operations and delineate the judicial and controlling bodies’ influence on informal methods of coalition-building. A typical case study about Brazil was selected and the method of analysis is theory-testing process-tracing. Furthermore, the thesis explores the development of big anti- corruption operations in each Brazilian presidency from 2003 to 2018: Lula (2003-2010), Dilma (2011-2016), and Temer (2016-2018). In the three governments analyzed, anti- corruption operations led to greater public and judicial attention to some types of corrupt practices, decreasing their attractiveness and leading to political instability. Moreover, billions of dollars were given back to the government because of the operations. The Presidency and politicians had to reinvent themselves on several occasions to sustain governability, but they ended up reinventing themselves in corruption itself: changing the intensity with which they used some coalition-building methods or resorting to innovative methods. As for the presidents, the ability with which they assembled a cohesive coalition was critical for their political survival and the intrusiveness of anti-corruption operations.Show less
