Political System Of Brazil Essay, Research Paper

The Structure of Political System in Brazil

Many countries in the world adopted the unique and valuable political system of the US, and the political system of Brazil mainly is oriented toward so called pro-American political system.

Political system refers to all kinds of recognized political and state institutions, the way of their formation, the matters of legitimacy, culture and delegation of power within the population and political structures.

The main law, the Constitution, gives clear ideas about the political power, the principle of the separation of powers among the various branches, public participation, issues of legitimacy and traditions.

According to the Federal Constitution of Brazil, three main political powers (legislative, executive, and judicial) have to be separated from each other. The constitution defines different procedures for the legitimacy of each branch of power. The Federal Constitution of 1988 of Brazil comprises a vast range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights as well as ample constitutional guarantees.

The Constitution of Brazil does not specifically alter the balance of power between bicameral legislative branch of the country. In Brazil congress (Congresso Nacional) consists of Federal Senate (Senado Federal) and the Chamber of Deputies (Camara Dos Deputados). Federal Senate has 81 seats; three members from each state or federal district elected according to the principle of majority for eighty year terms. One-third of senators are elected after four year period, two-thirds after the next four year period. Chamber of Deputies has five hundred thirteen seats, whose members are elected by proportional representation for four-year period. Senate mainly deal with confirmation of presidential appointments of high officials, ratification of all treaties as well as have power for impeachment of high executives. The Congress has the right on lawmaking, dealing with financial issues of the country, setting up the court system, announcing the war, enforcing military structure and privacy rights of people.

The president, who is both the chief of the state and head of government, represents executive branch in Brazil. President and vice-president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms. The president appoints cabinet. The power of the President of Brazil is somewhat limited by political culture (but in the US the office of the president is most powerful in the world). The president has constitutional power to nominate judges for the Supreme Court. Judges have to be appointed for life by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

The state and its structures have to have support by the set of basic political principles such as legitimacy, democracy, and delegation of power as well as by healthy political formations and parties. Political thoughts, traditions, culture in Brazil define political ideologies, parties, and the principles of public participation in political life. Political parties are the basis of the Brazilian political system. The political arena of Brazil is much broader than in US, which range from left wing of the Catholic Church to Worker’s, Liberal, and Socialist Parties.

In Brazil people have the number of ways of exercising their opinions and will throughout the different ideologies represented by the political parties. At regular intervals, the voters choose the political activists to represent them in legislative branch. The voters delegate their authority to the politicians, having given them the legitimacy to rule and nominate state officials. Candidates for public office and government positions have to submit their programs to the voters for their scrutiny and approval. Thus, the process of socialization between voters and the elected representatives is present and a continuing one. Brazilian voters expect much longer political feedback in comparison with other countries. Brazilians are more likely face to face contacts with elected officials.

The measure of government functioning lies in how well it has served its people in all kinds of circumstances. Brazilian large and well developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing, and service sectors overweight all other countries in the region. Although, financial crisis and social problems push down the high tendencies of real sector growth. Brazil is performing structural reforms and fiscal adjustment programs thanks to international support and IMF lending. Growing international trade and business with the US (the world economic leader) strengthen the economic position of Brazil. (Levitsky 59)

Brazil has bilateral treaties covering almost every aspect of international relations. In some ways, Brazilian, and American societies are similar: The country has a mixture of races because of immigration – Europeans, Africans, from the Middle East, and Asians. The population in Brazil is mobile and largely urban. Social mobility is also an important characteristic of both Brazil and the US, unlike many European countries.

Human Rights are universal rights that protected by Brazil. They are ensured in fields of all human activity for every strata of population either minorities or immigrants. Brazilian government at local state and federal levels, along with initiatives of judicial and legislative authorities is implementing broad programs on human rights with cooperation with the United States.

The adopted pro-American and adjusted to the cultural traditions political system of Brazil, made the country the leader in political, economical, social, and international aspects in South America. Also, Brazil made possible to forge new dimension in all-American regional relationship with the United States.

1. http://www.brazilinfo.net The embassy of Brazil in the US

2. http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/ CIA Publications

3. http://www.georgetown.edu/pdba/Parties.html Political Database of the Americas, Georgetown University

4. http://www.brazil.gov.br/ Republica Federativa do Brasil, Official site of the brazilian government

5. Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky. “ The new Brazil: a viable partner for the United States” SAIS Review v18 p51-71 Wint/Spr ‘98