The primary question addressed in this thesis is: What changed in Brazil that gave rise to a heightened social and political climate of anticorruption between 2007 and 2017? More specifically, what changes enabled Brazilian judicial empowerment, making it possible to investigate and hold accountable the corrupt among the economic and political elite? This research analyzes governance and democratization theory, and the varied incentives that influence public officials and encourage them to adopt policies to restrict their own corrupt practices. The research identifies a strong link between Brazil's international ambitions and the resultant influence that external forces placed on the nation to enable transformative judicialization with respect to government corruption. These findings have application both in the domestic fight in Brazil against corruption as well as the international effort to promote equity and influence good governance practices abroad.

Subjects: corruption; reform; transparency; democratization; activism; socialization; judicialization