2017 Confidence in Brazilian Justice Index: Public confidence in institutions drops
Data collected by the Confidence in Brazilian Justice Index (ICJBrasil), produced by FGV’s Sao Paulo Law School (Direito SP), revealed a drop in public confidence in virtually all the analyzed institutions, in comparison with the 2016 report.

Data collected by the Confidence in Brazilian Justice Index (ICJBrasil), produced by FGV’s Sao Paulo Law School (Direito SP), revealed a drop in public confidence in virtually all the analyzed institutions, in comparison with the 2016 report. The Executive Branch (45%) and the National Congress (30%) experienced the most pronounced drops.
With the exception of social networks, which saw confidence increase by 61% from one year to another, and the Police, which recorded a slight increase of 4%, the confidence of Brazilians in the other analyzed institutions fell. Highlights for Unions (-29%), Public Prosecutor’s Office (-22%), Judiciary (-17%), Large Companies (-15%), TV Broadcasters (-9%), Catholic Church (-7%), and Armed Forces and Written Press (both -5%). Political parties maintained a level of 7% trust and are no longer the least trusted institution by Brazilians, which is now the Federal Government, with only 6%.
For the first time, the ICJBrasil included the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in the assessment, in order to verify if Brazilians distinguish the work of the court from the rest of the Judiciary. Public confidence in the Federal Supreme Court is 24%, as well as in the Judiciary.
Luciana de Oliveira Ramos, Coordinator of the ICJ, attributes this performance to the intense exposure of the failures and successes of all these institutions in the media, with the unfolding of recent political events.
“The survey captured a moment in which Brazilians became more concerned with the fight against corruption. By expanding their knowledge of the institutions, they came to be less credulous. In addition, the detachment between the demands of the population and the interests of the Branches of Power contributes to Brazilians having a less encouraging view,” said the researcher.
Public confidence in the Judiciary also showed a drop of 10 percentage points between 2013 and 2017, from 34% to 24%. “This is significant data, considering that in previous years there were no major fluctuations in the level of confidence in the Judiciary,” said Ramos.
The most trusted institutions in the country were also assessed poorly, especially from 2014. Confidence in the armed forces fell from 68% to 56% during the period, while public confidence in the Catholic Church also decreased from 59% to 53%.
The institutions that lost the most confidence were the Federal Government (29% to 6%), the Public Prosecutor’s Office (50% to 28%), and large companies (43% to 29%).
Go to the website to read the complete study.
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