In need of reform

TABATA AMARAL wanted to be an astrophysicist, not a politician. She was raised in the outskirts of São Paulo and graduated from Harvard in 2016. On her return she saw the sorry state of education in Brazil and decided only policy change would improve it. So she launched a bid for Congress and became a federal deputy at 24. On her first day in Brasília in 2019, she learned why change is so hard. The son of another congressman was squatting in her state apartment and refused to leave. Politicians get lots of perks: a salary of 405,000 reais, 25 advisers of their choice, free housing,and foro privilegiado, which makes them hard to punish. Parties are given 2bn reais between them to run campaigns. State-sized districts require big spending, so rich political clans usually win. In exchange for their support, the president doles out jobs and pork.

Some young politicians want change. After Lava Jato Ms Amaral founded Acredito (I believe), a movement that preaches “renewal of people, practices and principles”. She also joined Renova BR, a public-policy bootcamp founded by Eduardo Mufarej, a businessman, that trained 117 candidates before the 2018 election, of whom 17 were elected. Members of Renova BR represent parties across the ideological spectrum and don’t always obey party instructions. Ms Amaral was nearly kicked...