Democracy, institutions of control, and justice from the perspective of state pluralism

Abstract Brazil has experienced an outstanding expansion of accountability and legal institutions. However, the performance of these public agencies has been raising doubts about the effects they exert on democracy. This article comparatively analyzes the development of three legal institutions—the Public Prosecutor's Office, Federal Police, and Public Defender's Office—adopting the state pluralism theoretical approach that highlights that groups of public servants must act in their own interest in order to obtain prerogatives, functions, and autonomy. The outcome, not without frequent conflicts between these actors, is a pluralization within the State, before the proliferation of agencies that mirror their own ambitions. This approach helps to understand the current Brazilian context, plagued by the controversial interference of these institutions in the political and democratic dynamic.