Politics of Brazil
From Freepedia
Brazil is a federal republic with 26 states and a federal district (see: States of Brazil).
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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, José 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 Inácio 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 fixing its value to the dollar. Inflation – which had become a fact of Brazilian life – was cut dramatically, delivering him the presidency to against Lula in 1994. After re-writing the constitution to enable a sitting president to run for re-election, he again beat Lula in 1998. At the most recent presidential election in 2002, Lula, the perennial candidate, finally won. 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 by the previous government and a statement directed at 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.
Brazilian political parties
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 Secretários (Secretaries); the Legislative is held by the Assembléia 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, Paraná, Bahia, Pernambuco and Pará.
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 (Município) 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 Pará 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 Inácio Lula da Silva
- Vice-President: José Alencar Gomes da Silva
Country name
conventional long form:
Federative Republic of Brazil
conventional short form:
Brazil
local long form:
República Federativa do Brasil
local short form:
Brasil
Government type
Federative republic
Capital
Administrative divisions
26 states (estados; singular – estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Acre, Alagoas, Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Distrito Federal*, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Paraná, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, 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 Getúlio 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. Getúlio Vargas was elected president by the Constitutional Assembly to a four-year term, beginning in 1933.
- Constitution of 1937 – Getúlio 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 Getúlio 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 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
Head of State:
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (since 1 January 2003); Vice President José Alencar Gomes da Silva (since 1 January 2003); note – the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government:
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (since 1 January 2003); Vice President José Alencar Gomes da Silva (since 1 January 2003); note – the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the president
Elections
President and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held October 2002 (next to be held October 2006).
Election results
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva elected president; percent of vote – 61.2%
Legislative branch
Bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81 seats; three members from each state or federal district 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) and the Chamber of Deputies or Câmara dos Deputados (513 seats; deputies are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
Elections
Federal Senate – last held October 2002 for two-thirds of the Senate (next to be held October 2006 for one-third of the Senate); Chamber of Deputies – last held October 2002 (next to be held October 2006)
Election results
| Party | Number of deputies | Leader in the Chamber |
|---|---|---|
| Workers' Party | 91 | Paulo Rocha |
| Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement | 86 | José Borba |
| Party of the Liberal Front | 62 | Rodrigo Maia |
| Progressive Party | 52 | José Janene |
| Liberal Party | 51 | Sandro Mabel |
| Party of the Brazilian Social Democracy | 51 | Alberto Goldman |
| Brazilian Labour Party | 48 | José Múcio Monteiro |
| Socialist People's Party | 17 | Dimas Ramalho |
| Brazilian Socialist Party | 16 | Renato Casagrande |
| Democratic Labour Party | 14 | Severiano Alves |
| Communist Party of Brazil | 9 | Renildo Calheiros |
| Green Party | 6 | Marcelo Ortiz |
| Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order | 2 | Enéas Carneiro |
| Social Christian Party | 2 | |
| No party | 6 |
Judicial branch
Brazilian jurisdiction courts function under civil law and adversarial system. The Judicial Branch are organized in states' and federal systems with different jurisdictions.
The judges of the courts of first instance take office after public competitive examinations. The second instance judges are promoted among the first instance judges. The Justices of the superior courts are appointed by the president for life and approved by the Senate. All the judges and justices must be graduated in law. Any Brazilian judge is compulsory retired at the age of 70.
States' judicial branch
The state territory is divided into judicial districts named comarcas, which are composed by one or more cities. Each comarca has at least one court of first instance. There are specialized courts of first instance for family litigation or bankruptcy in some cities and states. Judgments from theses district courts can be subject of judicial review by the courts of second instance.
Judgments of courts of first instance are usually made by only one judge. Brazilian judiciary system uses jury trials only for intentional crimes against the human life – like murder.
In the most part of the Brazilian states, there is only one court of second instance, named Justice Tribunal (Tribunal de Justiça in Portuguese). Some states, as São Paulo and Minas Gerais, have Courts of Appeals (Tribunal de Alçada in Portuguese) too, but with different jurisdiction. The highest court of a state is always the Justice Tribunal.
The second instance judgments are usually made by three judges, who, in the Justice Tribunals, are named desembargadores.
Federal judicial branch
The national territory is divided into six Regions, which are composed by one or more states. Each region is divided in Judiciary Sections (Seções Judiciárias in Portuguese) with a territory that may not correspond to the states' comarcas.
The Judiciary Sections has federal courts of first instance and each Region has a Federal Regional Tribunal (Tribunal Regional Federal in Portuguese) as a court of second instance.
There is a special federal court system for labor litigations called Labor Justice (Justiça do Trabalho in Portuguese) with its own courts.
Superior Courts
There are two national superior courts that grant writs of certiorari in civil and criminal cases: the Superior Justice Tribunal (Superior Tribunal de Justiça in Portuguese), also know as STJ, and the Brazilian superior court called Supreme Federal Tribunal (Supremo Tribunal Federal in Portuguese), also know as STF.
STJ grants a Special Appeal (Recurso Especial in Portuguese) when a judgment of a court of second instance offends a federal statute disposition or when the second instance courts in two or more have decided in different ways about a same federal statute. There are courts similar to the STJ for labor law, electoral law and military law.
STF grants an Extraordinary Appeal (Recurso Extraordinário in Portuguese) when a judgment of a court of second instance offends a constitutional disposition. STF is the last instance for the writ of habeas corpus, including review of a judgment from the STJ.
The superior courts do not analyze any factual questions in their judgments, but only the application of law and constitution. Facts and evidences must be judged in last instance by the courts of second instance, except in very special cases like the writ of habeas corpus.
Political pressure groups and leaders
Left wing of the Catholic Church, Landless Worker's Movement, and labor unions pressure the government for more intense reforms on taxation and land property, while rightist PFL and PSDB are critical of government's social and economic policies.
International organization participation
African Development Bank, Bank for International Settlements, Customs Cooperation Council, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Food and Agriculture Organization, Group of 11, Group of 15, Group of 19, Group of 24, Group of 77, Inter-American Development Bank, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), International Civil Aviation Organization, International Chamber of Commerce, International Criminal Court, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, International Development Association, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Finance Corporation, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Hydrographic Organization, International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, Inmarsat, International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, Interpol, International Olympic Committee, International Organization for Migration (observer), International Organization for Standardization, International Telecommunication Union, Latin American Economic System, Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración, Mercosur, Nonaligned Movement (observer), Nuclear Suppliers Group, Organization of American States, Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Rio Group, United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka, United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, United Nations University, Universal Postal Union, World Confederation of Labour, World Federation of Trade Unions, World Health Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, World Meteorological Organization, World Tourism Organization World Trade Organization
Flag description
- Main article: Flag of Brazil
Green with a large yellow diamond in the center bearing a blue celestial globe with 27 white five-pointed stars (one for each state and the Federal District) arranged in the same pattern as the night sky over Brazil on the 15th November 1889 (date of the proclamation of the Republic); the globe has a white equatorial band with the motto ORDEM E PROGRESSO (Order and Progress).
