Abstract
Ana Galvão portrays the work of the legislature and analyzes the composition of the Congress and Brazil’s parliamentary elite under the Lula and Rousseff governments. These PT Presidents represented a sector of Brazilian society which, previously, had not been understood as part of the country’s political elite. This brought up the question if, after Lula took office in 2003, the different social and economic sectors of the society became more adequately represented in both chambers. The results show that the parliamentary elite is in a process of change in the Chamber of Deputies. For instance, more women and new professional groups are now accessing the lower chamber and a generational change is in the coming. Nonetheless, some old patterns persist, e.g. the dominance of certain professional groups and the high educational level of the deputies. On the whole, her analysis shows that during the last 12 years there has been a gradual—yet not fundamental—transformation of the parliamentary elite of the country.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
In the election year 2010 the website’s design was changed and the slogan has been deleted.
- 2.
The term “ruled class” stems from the classic elite theory of Mosca and Pareto.
- 3.
For a detailed analysis of the profile of Brazilian parliamentarians during Lula da Silva’s first term of office on the basis of biographic data see Galvão Alves (2008). The analysis examined, inter alia, age, education, profession, sex and ethnic background. This analysis of the biographic data of Brazilian parliamentary representatives is reproduced here in an abridged form.
- 4.
For the English version of this article the author summarized and evaluated the biographic data of parliamentarians in Dilma Roussef’s government. However, the focus of the article remains the government of Lula da Silva.
- 5.
For an historical overview see also: http://www.senado.gov.br/comunica/historia/index.htm
- 6.
The Constituent Assembly was tasked with preparing the new constitution. This came into effect in 1988. It is the country’s sixth constitution.
- 7.
The bicameral system is limited to the national level.
- 8.
In the case of the death or other hindrance of a senator the substitute takes office. Thus, for example, after Senator Carlos Magalhães passed away in 2007 his son, Antônio Carlos Magalhães Junior, who was nominated as his substitute, took over his father’s office.
- 9.
The statistical data for determining the number of representatives from each state is provided by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
- 10.
An example of an investigatory committee that examined a problem from the civil sector is the investigation into the chaos within Brazilian air traffic, which led to two plane crashes in 2006 and 2009 and to numerous malfunctions of the country’s radar system.
- 11.
A detailed description of the functions and structure of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies can be found in a study by Faria and Freitas do Valle (2006).
- 12.
These and other special competencies of the Senate are set out in Article 52 of the current Brazilian Constitution. The text of the Brazilian Constitution can be found under: http://www.senado.gov.br/sf/legislacao/const/
- 13.
Data from the Chamber of Deputies: http://www.camara.gov.br
- 14.
In Brazil these legal frameworks are called leis de diretrizes orçamentárias (LDO).
- 15.
The analysis of the biographic data is restricted to Lula’s first term of office (2003–2007).
- 16.
Data from the IBGE: http://www.ibge.gov.br/
- 17.
According to the IBGE data in 2007 there were 15,628,400 illiterate people in the country.
- 18.
Data from the IBGE website: http://www.ibge.gov.br/
- 19.
This does not include parliamentarians with advanced training, doctoral degrees or a habilitation, as these form an own category.
- 20.
Data from the Brazilian Congress‘database: http://www2.camara.leg.br/
- 21.
Parliamentarians from Lula da Silva’s second period of office (2008–2011) confirm this trend: there is a large number of doctors and lawyers among parliamentarians. According to the data from the Congress’ website there were 106 lawyers and 57 doctors in Congress.
- 22.
The number of pastors from evangelical sects in Congress grew from 5 to 13 in Lula’s second term in office.
- 23.
Mulatto stands for “mixed-race” between black and white and is a standard term in Brazil.
- 24.
Data from the IBGE website: http://www.ibge.gov.br
- 25.
PNAD (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios) is the national data collection on the basis of household samples. New data was collected in 2010 through a census.
- 26.
Data from Hasenbalg’s results (1991).
- 27.
Database of the Chamber of Deputies: http://www2.camara.gov.br/deputados
- 28.
It is possible that this number might need to be increased by one or two politicians as the quality of the pictures was not always good and there were not always photos together with the curriculum vitae.
- 29.
Benedita da Silva did not remain in office for long: in January 2004 she was removed following a corruption scandal.
- 30.
Data from the Câmaras dos Deputados website: www2.camara.gov.br/deputados
- 31.
This statement is based on the analysis of the curriculum vitae of female politicians. The sources were, above all, the biographic data of the Chamber of Deputies and the CFEMEA database (website: www.cfemea.org.br).
- 32.
This is perhaps related to the fact that the former PL (today PR), which was often elected in Minas Gerais, does not have a single woman in its ranks.
- 33.
“To change with courage and caution, with humility and audacity, to change and yet still know that every change is a slow and continuous process…”.
References
Barrios, H., & Meyer-Stamer, J. (2000). Vorwärts, rückwärts, seitwärts, Schluss. Widersprüche in den politischen und wirtschaftlichen Reformprozessen in Brasilien. Lateinamerika Brennpunkt, 5, 37–48.
Bethell, L., & Nicolau, J. (2008). Politics in Brazil. In L. Bethell (Ed.), Brazil since 1930 (pp. 1985–2002). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Costa, S. (2008). Das politische System Brasiliens. In K. Stüwe & S. Rinke (Eds.), Die politischen Systeme in Nord- und Lateinamerika – Eine Einführung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaft.
Faria, C. F. S., & Freitas do Valle, J. C. (2006). Legislativo do Brasil: Câmara dos Deputados. Brasília: Coordenação de Publicações da Câmara dos Deputados.
Figueiredo, A. C., & Limongi, F. (2000). Constitutional change, legislative performance and institutional consolidation (special issue). Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 1, 74–94. São Paulo.
Galvão Alves, A. P. (2008). Elitewandel im Brasilianischen Kongress. Eine Untersuchung über die parlamentarische Elite unter der Regierung Lula. Master’s thesis, Universität Tübingen, Department of Political Science.
Hasenbalg, C. A. (1991). Race and socioeconomic inequalities in Brazil. In P. M. Fontaine (Ed.), Race, class and power in Brazil (2nd ed., pp. 25–41). Los Angeles: UCLA Publication Services Department.
Holston, J. (2008). Insurgent citizenship – disjunctions of democracy and modernity in Brazil. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kinzo, M. D. G. (2004). Partidos, eleições e democracia no Brasil pós-1985. Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 19(54), 23–40.
Lipset, M. S., & Solari, A. (1967). Elites in Latin America. London: Oxford University Press.
Macauly, F. (2003). Sexual politics, party politics: The PT government’s policies on gender equity and equality (Working Paper CBS-46-03, Center for Brazilian Studies, University of Oxford).
Mainwaring, S. P. (1986). The Catholic Church on politics in Brazil, 1916–1985. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Mainwaring, S. P. (1999). Rethinking party systems in the third wave of democratization, the case of Brazil. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Marenco dos Santos, A. (2001). Sedimentação de Lealdades Partidárias no Brasil: Têndencias e Descompassos. Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 16(45), 69–83.
Menck, J. T. M. (2008). Constituinte de 1987 e a Consituição possível. Ensaios sobre impactos na Constituição Federal de 1988 (pp. 19–30). Brasília: Coordenação de Publicações da Câmara dos Deputados.
Mosca, G. (1950). Die herrschende Klasse. München: Lehnen Verlag.
Pareto, V. (1955). Allgemeine Soziologie. Tübingen: Mohr Verlag.
Pereira, C., & Mueller, B. (2000). Uma Teoria da Preponderância do Poder Executivo. O sistema de Comissões no Legislativo brasileiro. Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 15(43), 45–67.
Pereira, C., & Mueller, B. (2003). Partidos Fracos na Arena Eleitoral e Partidos Fortes na Arena Legislativa: A Conexão Eleitoral no Brasil. Dados, Revista de Ciências Sociais, Rio de Janeiro, 46(4), 735–771.
Pierson, P. (2003). Politics in time: Institutions, and social analysis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Pires, E. A. (2008). A medida Provisória e sua evolução constituciona. Ensaios sobre impactos na Constituição Federal de 1988 (pp. 579–597). Brasília: Coordenação de Publicações da Câmara dos Deputados.
Power, T. J. (2000). Political institutions in democratic Brazil. Politics as a permanent constitutional convention. In P. R. Kingstone & T. J. Power (Eds.), Democratic Brazil. Actors, institutions and processes (pp. 17–35). Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Rabat, M. N. (2008). Autonomia de organização partidária: antes e depois da Consituição Federal de 1988 Ensaios sobre impactos na Constituição Federal de 1988 (pp. 727–737). Brasília: Coordenação de Publicações da Câmara dos Deputados.
Rodrigues, L. M. (2006). Mudanças na Classe Política Brasileira. São Paulo: Publifolha.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Galvão, A. (2016). The National Congress and Brazil’s Parliamentary Elite Under the Lula Government. In: de la Fontaine, D., Stehnken, T. (eds) The Political System of Brazil. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40023-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40023-0_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-40022-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-40023-0
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)