The political opening of Brazil ( pt, abertura politica) was the 1974–1988 period of liberalization under the country's

military regime A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

, ending with the decline of the regime, the signing of the country's new constitution, and the

transition to democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

. General

Ernesto Geisel Ernesto Beckmann Geisel (, ; 3 August 1907 – 12 September 1996) was a Brazilian Army officer and politician, who was List of Presidents of Brazil, President of Brazil from 1974 to 1979, during the Brazilian military regime. Early life and fa ...

began the liberalization (''distensão'') in 1974 by allowing for the

Brazilian Democratic Movement The Brazilian Democratic Movement ( pt, Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a " big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, ...

opposition party's participation in congressional elections. He worked to address human rights violations and began to undo the military dictatorship's founding legislation, the

Institutional Acts The Institutional Acts were the founding legislation of the Brazilian military dictatorship The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, wit ...

, in 1978. General

João Figueiredo João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo (; 15 January 1918 – 24 December 1999) was a Brazilian military leader and politician who was the 30th president of Brazil from 1979 to 1985, the last of the military regime that ruled the country follo ...

, elected the next year, continued the transition to democracy, freeing the last political prisoners in 1980, instituting direct elections in 1982. The 1985 election of a ruling opposition party marked the military dictatorship's end. The process of liberalization ultimately was successful. The democratization's

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

shows disagreement as to whether the opening was spurred more by divisions among the country's elite or by pressure from civil society, including church grassroots, new unionism, and opposition voters.

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