Politics of Brazil

The 1988 constitution grants broad powers to the federal government. The President has extensive executive powers; he appoints the Cabinet, and he is also both head of state and head of government. The President and Vice-President are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms.

The Brazilian legislature, the bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional, includes the Federal Senate or Senado Federal of 81 seats, of which three members from each state or federal district are elected according to the principle of majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third elected after a four-year period, two-thirds elected after the next four-year period.

Beside the Senate there is the Chamber of Deputies or Câmara dos Deputados of 513 seats, whose members are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms. Brazil is a federal republic with 26 states and a federal district (see: States of Brazil).

Government

The 1988 constitution grants broad powers to the federal government, made up of executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The president holds office for four years, with the right to re-election for an additional four-year term, and appoints his own cabinet. There are 81 senators, three for each state and the Federal District, and 513 deputies.

Senate terms are for eight years, with election staggered so that two-thirds of the upper house is up for election at one time and one-third four years later. Chamber of Deputies terms are for four years, with elections based on a complex system of proportional representation by states. The seats are alloted proportionally to each state’s population, but each state is eligible for a minimum of eight seats and a maximum of 70 seats. The result is a system weighted in favor of smaller states.

The military governed Brazil in alliance with the civilian economic and social elite between 1964 and 1985. In contrast to other bureaucratic authoritarian regimes in the region, Brazil’s rulers maintained elections but reorganised the party system by reducing their total number to two: a pro-regime party and another which acted as a magnet to dissidents.

A process of transition was begun in the 1970s, during which the party system was opened up in 1982 and direct elections for state governors and mayors allowed. An economic crisis in the 1980s coincided with a demand to wider democracy with a demand for direct elections in 1984. In 1985 the military handed over power to a civilian government, albeit following an indirect election in which a compromise candidate was chosen: Tancredo Neves.

However, Neves died before he could assume office, his position being taken by his vice-president, Jose Sarney, who had been a member of the pro-military party in Congress during the dictatorship.

The first direct presidential election in 1989 saw the young, charismatic, neo-liberal populist and former governor of small Alagoas state, Fernando Collor de Mello, beat the Workers’ Party (PT) leader, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva for the presidency in a second round run-off. He was soon embroiled in a campaign finance scandal leading to his impeachment. He resigned in 1992, being replaced by his vice-president, Itamar Franco, a regional politician from the state of Minas Gerais. Franco appointed the prominent sociologist and social democrat, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, to serve as his finance minister.

In 1993 Mr Cardoso launched his Real Plan, replacing the discredited old currency and pegging its value to the dollar. Inflation - which had become a fact of Brazilian life - was cut dramatically, enabling him to win the presidential race against Lula in 1994. During his first term, a constitutional ammendment was passed to enable a sitting president to run for re-election, after which he again beat Lula in 1998.

Lula would eventually be elected in his own right in 2002. In part his victory was derived from a softening of his and the party’s anti-neoliberal stance, including a vice-presidential candidate from the right-wing Liberal Party, acceptance of an IMF accord agreed to by the previous government and a line of discourse friendly to the markets.

Fifteen political parties are represented in Congress. Since it is common for politicians to switch parties, the proportion of congressional seats held by particular parties changes regularly.

States and municipalities

Brazil is divided into two types of subnational units: States and Municipalities.

States

Brazilian states are semi-autonomous self-governing entities organized with complete administration branches, relative financial independence and their own set of symbols, similar to those owned by the nation itself. Despite their relative autonomy they all have the same model of administration, as set by the Constitution.

State hold elections every four years and exercise a considerable amount of power, since the 1988 constitution — besides allowing them to keep their own taxes — mandated regular allocation of a share of the taxes collected locally by the federal government.

The Executive is held by the Governador (Governor) and his appointed Secretarios (Secretaries); the Legislative is held by the Assembleia Legislativa (literally, Law-Making Assembly); and the Judiciary, by the Tribunal de Justiça (Law Court). The governors and the members of the assemblies are elected, but the members of the Judiciary are appointed by the governor from a list provided by the current members of the State Law Court containing only judges (these are chosen by merit in exams open to anyone with a Law degree).

The name chosen by the governor must be approved by the Assembly before inauguration. Since the 1988 Constitution this is the greatest amount of autonomy the states have been granted since the Old Republic. As a consequence, state governors are very visible nationwide and often run for president.

Each of the 27 governors must achieve more than 50 per cent of the vote, including a second round run-off between the top two candidates if necessary. In contrast to the federal level, state legislatures are unicameral, although the deputies are elected through similar means, involving an open-list system in which the state serves as one constituency. State level elections occur at the same time as those to the president and Congress. In 2002 candidates from eight different parties won the gubernatorial contest while 28 parties are represented in the country’s state legislatures. The next set of elections will take place in 2006.

The most important Brazilian states (in terms of population, economic power and cultural relevance) are São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, Bahia, Pernambuco and Para.

Municipalities

Brazil has no clear distinction between towns and cities (in effect, the Portuguese word cidade means both). The only possible difference is regarding the municipalities which have a Law Court and those who have not. The first are called Sedes de Comarca (Comarca being the territory under the rule of that specific Court). Other than this, only size and importance differs one from another.

The Municipality (Municipio) is a territory comprising one urban area, the sede (seat), from which it takes the name, and several other minor urban or rural areas, the distritos. The seat of a municipality must be the most populous urban area within it, when another urban are grows too much it usually splits from the original municipality to form another one.

A Municipality is relatively autonomous: it is allowed to have its own constitution (properly called Lei Orgânica), to collect taxes and fees, to maintain a municipal police force, to pass laws on any matter that does not contradict either the state or the national constitution and to imperson itself with symbols (like a flag, an anthem and a coat-of-arms). However, not all municipalities exercise the entirety of this autonomy.

For instance, only a few municipalities keep local police forces, some of them do not collect some taxes (to attract investors or residents) and many of them do not have a flag (although they are all required to have a coat-of-arms).

Municipalities are governed by an elected prefeito Mayor and an unicameral Câmara de Vereadores (Councilors Chamber). In municipalities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, the Mayor must be elected by more than 50% of the valid vote. The executive power is called Prefeitura.

Brazilian municipalities can vary widely in area and population. The municipality of Altamira, Brazil, in the State of Para is larger than most countries of the world ( . Tenths of Brazilian municipalities are over 1,000,000 inhabitants.

Until 1974 Brazil had one state-level municipality, the State of Guanabara, now merged with Rio de Janeiro, which comprised the city of Rio de Janeiro only.

The Federal District

The Federal District is an anomalous unit of the federation, as it is not organized the same manner as a municipality, does not posses the same autonomy as a state (but is ranked among them) and is closely related to the central power.

It is considered a single municipality, divided into the seat (Brasilia itself) and some urban districts (the so-called Satellite Cities). Satellite cities are created (in right) and governed directly by the governor of the federal district and possess no true identity.

Principal government officials
President: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Vice-President: Jose Alencar Gomes da Silva

Country name

conventional long form: Federative Republic of Brazil
conventional short form: Brazil
local long form: Republica Federativa do Brasil
local short form: Brasil

Government type
Federative republic

Capital

Brasilia - DF

Administrative divisions

26 states (estados; singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Acre, Alagoas, Amapa, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceara, Distrito Federal*, Espirito Santo, Goias, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Para, Paraiba, Parana, Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondonia, Roraima, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe, Tocantins

Independence

September 7, 1822 (from Portugal)

National holiday

Independence Day, 7 September (1822)

Constitution

Brazil has had seven constitutions:
Constitution of 1824 - the first Brazilian constitution, enacted by Dom Pedro I. It was monarchic, hereditary and highly centralized, permitting the vote only to property-holders.
Constitution of 1891 - the republic was proclaimed in 1889, but a new constitution was not promulgated until 1891. This federalist, democratic constitution was heavily influenced by the U.S. model. However, women and illiterates were not permitted to vote.
Constitution of 1934 - when Getulio Vargas came to power in 1930, he canceled the 1891 constitution and did not permit a new one until 1934. The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 forced Vargas to enact a new democratic constitution that permitted women’s suffrage. Getulio Vargas was elected president by the Constitutional Assembly to a four-year term, beginning in 1933.
Constitution of 1937 - Getulio Vargas suppressed a Communist uprising in 1935 and used it as a pretext to establish autocratic rule. He instituted a corporatist constitution nicknamed the polish, written by Francisco Campos.
Constitution of 1946 - after a military coup ousted dictatorial Getulio Vargas, an Assembly wrote a democratic constitution.
Constitution of 1967 - after the 1964 coup d’etât against João Goulart, the military dictactorship passed the Institutional Acts, a supraconstitutional law. This strongly undemocratic constitution simply incorporated these Acts.
Constitution of 1988 - the progressive redemocratization culminated in the current constitution. Very democratic, it is more expansive than a normal constitution - many statutory acts in other countries are written into this constitution, like Social Security and taxes.

Legal system

Based on Roman codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

Suffrage

Suffrage is voluntary between 16 and 18 years of age and over 70; compulsory over 18 and under 70 years of age (except for a few categories, such as illiterate and disabled people, for whom it is voluntary). President, state governors and mayors of state capitals and large cities are elected in two rounds (runoff voting): if no candidate obtains a majority, the first two candidates of the first turn go for a second one. Senators and mayors of smaller cities (less than 400,000 habitants) are elected in a single round (winner takes all). Deputies and city council members are elected by proportional elections with open party lists: the party candidates with the most individual votes take office.

Executive branch