Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Brazilian Perceptions on Regional Integration in South America

Abstract

The 1990s brought in a change in the interaction of Brazilian society with foreign policy issues. Themes such as the intensity and extent of Brazilian involvement abroad began to arouse greater interest among opinion leaders and social organizations. Few years later, during Lula administration, establish a South American order under Brazilian leadership became a priority element. However, Brazilian public opinion do not seemed to support the paymaster role of the country regionally. In this sense, this research aims to ascertain how national and regional public opinion perceives Brazil's actions in South American integration processes. The main databases used to develop this research proposal comes from the Las Americas y el Mundo project, conducted in seven South American countries and Mexico. In addition, the databases of the Brazilian segment of the project will allow the comparative analysis of the different perceptions of public opinion regarding foreign policy issues. Two surveys were applied at crucial moments for the analysis proposed here. Due to the year of application, the information from the first one will make it possible to understand the views of public opinion about the regional action of Brazil during the Lula's administration (2003-2010), while the second edition of the survey allows the evaluation of this same perception, coming from the first term of Dilma's government (2011-2014).