The Harvard political science professor Samuel P. Huntington (1927–2008) made visits to Brazil in 1972 and 1974 to advise the government about ‘decompression’ or regime liberalisation. The literature on Brazil's dictatorship references these visits as having had a major causal impact. This article argues that his influence on Brazilian regime change is greatly exaggerated. It also argues that Huntington, who became a leading theorist of democratisation, had an interest in and commitment to democracy that was more recent and circumstantial than is often thought. This helps to explain the current period of democratic ‘deconsolidation’ associated with the rise of authoritarian national populism in Brazil.

中文翻译：

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Samuel P. Huntington，巴西的“减压”与民主

哈佛政治学教授塞缪尔·亨廷顿（Samuel P. Huntington，1927-2008）于 1972 年和 1974 年访问巴西，就“减压”或政权自由化向政府提供建议。关于巴西独裁统治的文献提到这些访问产生了重大的因果影响。本文认为，他对巴西政权更迭的影响被大大夸大了。它还认为，亨廷顿成为了民主化的主要理论家，他对民主的兴趣和承诺比人们通常认为的更近期和间接。这有助于解释当前与巴西威权民族民粹主义兴起相关的民主“解体”时期。