The slavery issue shakes the support of…

The slavery issue shakes the support of Brazil's landed elite even as the church and military crises are unfolding.

Members of the Liberal and Conservative Parties come from the same social groups: plantation owners (fazendeiros) made up half of both, and the rest are bureaucrats and professionals.

The ideological differences between the parties are trivial, but factional and personal rivalries within them make it difficult for the parties to adjust to changing social and economic circumstances.

As a result, the last decade of the empire is marked by considerable political instability.

Between 1880 and 1889, there are ten cabinets (seven in the first five years) and three parliamentary elections, with no Parliament able to complete its term.

The repeated use of the moderating power provokes alienation, even among traditional monarchists.