The article shows the evolution of Brazil's democratic governability of defense, which will be approached in three periods: the first one, from the return to democracy to the creation of the Ministry of Defense in 1999; the second one, from the setting up of the Ministry until its reform in 2010; and the third will look into the Ministry's reform until the election of Jair Bolsonaro. It is argued that Brazil has had weak democratic governance of the defense, achieving an apparent consolidation during the PT's governments; however, it has rapidly degraded. This work will provide a narration of the democratic governability of defense guided by the theoretical notions of the relations between civilians and the military.