Brazil History and Business Environment: - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad review and analysis of Brazil and its business environment. Starting with a historical perspective that includes religious and cultural elements, as well as a brief geographical review, the primary focus will be upon the economic and political factors that make Brazil what it is today; a potential emerging economic powerhouse whose natural resources, industrial potential, political processes, and economic policy simply need to be managed efficiently for the country to effectively fulfill its potential.
Discussion of Brazilian history, religion, and culture. From a European viewpoint, Brazil appeared on the map in 1500, when Portuguese captain Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on the coast and discovered “nearly seven million native people” living in a rich tropical environment with abundant natural resources (Levine, 1999, p. 31). What followed were several centuries of evolution as Brazil followed the track of much of the Americas; colonization, independence, empire, and then the formation of a republic. For the purposes of this paper, the current economic environment of Brazil has its foundations in what historians call the “Vargas Era,” where the deteriorating economic and political environment came about as the result of a “lack of flexibility and capacity to modernize shown by the political structures and processes on the one hand and of the accelerating pace of economic change and resultant societal tensions on the other” (Schneider, 1991, p. 106). Brazil moved forward into democracy but retained many of the chronic elements of its history; political inflexibility, economic inefficiency, and social disparity.
In terms of the religious heritage of the country, it also reflects a similar arc as to the other nations in the region. As it was explored, conquered, and colonized in part through the efforts of missionaries from Europe, modern Brazil has its religious roots in Catholicism.  ...Download file to see next pagesRead More