This chapter argues that there are two clear phases in the current democratic period in Brazil: the first one between 1985 and 2013 and after 2013. The first period is marked by moments of constructing civil control over the military, in defining the basis of governability by imposing presidential preponderance over the lawmaking process and by establishing the characteristics of the due judicial process and opening opportunities for judicial review and activism. It is also a period marked by popular enthusiasm and engagement with democracy. After 2013, demarcated by the public protests of June 2013, one sees a significant process of increased military presence in public opinion and government business, significant institutional reforms in Congress that altered the existing balance of power between Executive and Legislative branches and increased judicial activism, with several changes in precedent and substantial juridical insecurity. Furthermore, authoritarian attitudes begin to resurface in the population. This combination of factors is marked by the resilience of unresolved dilemmas of the transition and by the emergence of a conservative, far-right political alternative to the center of Brazilian politics.