 Matthew M. Taylor, Veto and Voice in the Courts: Policy Implications of Institutional Design in the Brazilian Judiciary Brazil’s federal courts have played an increasingly important public policy role since Brazil’s return to democracy in the mid 1980s. This article evaluates the effects of a specific constitutional review mechanism, the direct action of unconstitutionality, on public policy. Institutional location is important. Institutional rules and mechanisms produce veto points that enable veto players effectively to delay public policies in areas in which they might otherwise have little or no leverage over a policy. |