The Brazilian social system functions through intertwined…

The Brazilian social system functions through intertwined networks of patronage, familial relationships, and friendships.

The state, capitalist economy, and institutions such as the church and the army develop within what historian Emilia Viotti da Costa will call "the web of patronage."

Contacts and favor rather than ability determine success in virtually all occupations.

Brazilian society is, and will remain, one in which a person cannot advance without friends and family; hence, the continued importance of kinship networks (parentelas) , godfathers (compadres) and godmothers (comadres), and military school classes (turmas).

Such a social system does not lend itself to reform.