Compliance to Law and Effectiveness of the Rule of Law in Brazil

13 Pages Posted: 2 Dec 2013 Last revised: 3 Apr 2017

See all articles by Luciana Gross Cunha

Luciana Gross Cunha

São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP

Fabiana Luci de Oliveira

UFSCar

Luciana Ramos

Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP - São Paulo Law School

Date Written: December 2, 2013

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to debate the degree of effectiveness of the rule of law in Brazil, through a survey measuring perceptions, attitudes and habits of Brazilians in regard to compliance to law. The survey conducted in Brazil is based on the study conducted by Tom R. Tyler in the United States, entitled Why People Obey the Law? (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990). The main argument of Tyler´s study is that people obey the law when they believe it’s legitimate, and not because they fear punishment. We test the same argument in Brazil, relying on five indicators: (i) behavior, which depicts the frequency with which respondents declared to have engaged in conducts in disobedience to the law; (ii) instrumentality, measuring perception of losses associated with the violation of the law, specially fear of punishment; (iii) morality, measuring perception of how much is right or wrong to engage in certain conducts in violation of the law; (iv) social control, which measures perception of social disapproval of certain types of behavior in violation of the law, and (v) legitimacy, which measures the perception of respect to the law and to some authorities. Results indicate that fear of sanctions is not the strongest drive in compliance to law, but more than legitimacy, indicators of morality and social control are the strongest in explaining why people obey the law in Brazil.

Suggested Citation

Cunha, Luciana Gross and Oliveira, Fabiana Luci de and Ramos, Luciana, Compliance to Law and Effectiveness of the Rule of Law in Brazil (December 2, 2013). FGV Direito SP Research Paper Series No. 06, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2362260 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2362260

Luciana Gross Cunha (Contact Author)

São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP ( email )

Rua Rocha, 233 - 9º andar
São Paulo, SP 01330-000
Brazil
55 11 32813420 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.direitogv.com.br

Fabiana Luci de Oliveira

UFSCar ( email )

Rodovia Washington Luis, 310, Sao Carlos - SP
Brazil
+5516 33518659 (Phone)

Luciana Ramos

Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP - São Paulo Law School ( email )

R. Rocha, 233, Bela Vista
São Paulo, 01330-000
Brazil

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
174
Abstract Views
1,291
Rank
328,651
PlumX Metrics