THE BRAZILIAN SUPREME COURT IN THE FACE OF PURPOSE INEFFICIENCY: EXECUTIVE UNDERREACH IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

liberal constitutional democracy faces serious threats at the beginning of the 21st century. Instead of military coups, there is a process of democratic erosion, in which elected leaders use constitutional and legal mechanisms to undermine the foundations of democratic rule. One of the ways to promote this erosion is the Executive Underreach, still little studied by national and foreign doctrine. The article analyzes the case of Executive Underreach in Brazil, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The central question is: what is the role of the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) in cases of Executive Underreach? Through a bibliographic and documentary study, as well as the study of two relevant cases -the protection of indigenous groups during the pandemic and the constitutionality of mandatory vaccination -three important actions that the STF perform are identified: 1. Contribute to the publicity of government decisions; 2. Demand adequate justification for the Executive's decisions, which must act based on public reasons; 3. Protect vulnerable groups, who may suffer greater losses from deliberate state inefficiency.