A incompleta virada institucional das Forças Armadas: uma análise dos princípios da disciplina e da hierarquia militar à luz da Constituição de 1988

Abstract

The political and legal order in Brazil went on new directions following the enactment of the 1988 Constitution, when sanctity of rights and basic freedom was reestablished and a new scenario for the fundamental rights treatment was instituted. In spite of the expectations about the institutional turn of the Armed Forces, the hierarchical military model, which was historically conservative, unilateral and antidialogical, remained, to a certain extent, unrelated to the new constitutional particularities, perpetuating a secular tradition based on authoritarianism and excessive disciplinary austerity. Through a qualitative methodology, using the technical procedure of bibliographic research and the hypothetical-deductive method, this study aims to investigate the compatibility of the Armed Forces fundamental binomial with the democratic precepts purported by the Politic Letter of 1988. To achieve such purpose, the analysis will focus on constitutional provision for discipline and hierarchy principles, and subsequently, military culture will be examined through a sociological lens, based on Goffman’s (2010) teachings about the concept of total institutions, and Foucault’s (2009) perspective on disciplinary power. Afterward, some reflections will be made about the propensity to occupational stress within the scope of Brazilian military organizations, based on Joh Shane's (2010) research. In the end, the study is expected to demonstrate how the arbitrary use of authority violates fundamental rights and, therefore, negatively impacts the military training process.