As eleições de 2010 e o quadro partidário

As eleições presidenciais têm se resumido a uma disputa entre PT e PSDB. Nenhuma candidatura alternativa foi capaz de ameaçar o controle desses partidos sobre a maioria dos eleitores. A estruturação das eleições presidenciais repercute sobre as disputas pelos governos estaduais, fazendo com que estas obedeçam à mesma clivagem básica. A estratégia dos partidos, negociando o lançamento e a retirada de candidaturas, é a chave para se entender a dinâmica da competição eleitoral no Brasil.Presidential elections in Brazil have been regularly a dispute between PT and PSDB. No third alternative has been able to threaten the control these parties have over the majority of the electorate. The way presidential elections are structured has an influence over the elections at state level, reproducing the same pattern. The parties' strategy, negotiating the launching and withdrawal of candidacies, is the key to understanding the dynamics of electoral disputes in Brazil

Elections and Democracy in Brazil: Victor Nunes Leal and the 1945 Transition

This article discusses the necessary conditions for a democratic government to prevail, with the study Coronelismo: the Municipality and Representative Government in Brazil as the point of departure. The article seeks to identify the book's causal explanations for the emergence of democracy, and more precisely for regimes in which governments lose elections. Why were elections not truly competitive over the course of the Empire and the First Republic? Why did they change after the fall of the Estado Novo? Nunes Leal was one of the few Brazilian authors to explicitly tackle this challenge

Entries and Withdrawals: Electoral Coordination across Different Offices and the Brazilian Party Systems

In this article, we present new data on electoral alliances (coligações) that were formed to contest Brazilian general elections between 1986 and 2014. We present evidence to show that alliances formed for gubernatorial and lower house elections are connected to one another. These joint alliances are part of complex coordination strategies for managing the entry and withdrawal of candidates for concomitant elections regulated by different rules. As we shall show, these joint strategies result in: 01. interlinked processes of party concentration in subnational executive elections, and party fragmentation in national lower-house elections; which is the result of 02. the emergence of political parties that specialize in contesting elections for different political offices

The Budget Process and Legislative Behavior: Individual Amendments, Support for the Executive, and Government Programs

ABSTRACT The article challenges the contention that individual amendments are crucial for a system of exchanging favors with the Administration by members of Congress interested in distributive policies as a way of guaranteeing their reelection. By analyzing funds allocated through Congressional amendments, their distribution in different government programs, and roll-call votes in the Brazilian House of Representatives from 1996 to 2001, the authors show that: individual amendments are not prioritized either by Congress in the budget's approval or by the Administration in its implementation; there are no differences between the agenda dictated by the Administration and that of the legislators; and party affiliation explains both House floor votes and the implementation of individual amendments and is thus an explanatory variable in the Executive-Legislative relationship

Governabilidade e concentração de poder institucional: o governo FHC

O artigo analisa o governo Fernando Henrique Cardoso como parte de um padrão mais geral de relações Executivo-Legislativo que se caracteriza por forte concentração de poder nas mãos do Presidente da República e dos líderes partidários. A centralização decisória que se observa nesse governo tem bases institucionais, distinguindo-se do chamado "presidencialismo imperial", de base personalista. Os poderes institucionais de agenda e o controle sobre o processo legislativo têm forte impacto na produção legal e na capacidade do governo em obter apoio para a sua agenda legislativa.This article tries to analyses the government of FHC as part of a more general pattern of Executive-Legislative relationship which are featured by a strong concentration of power in the hands of the President and the Party leaders as well. The centralization of the decisions that is noticed in this government has institutional basis, distinguishing itself from the called "imperial presidencialism", with personalistic basis. The institutional power and the control over the legislative process have a strong impact in the legal production and in the capacity of the government in obtaining the support for his legislative agenda

Sufrágio universal, mas... só para homens. O voto feminino no Brasil

RESUMO Introdução: O artigo reconstitui a trajetória da concessão e expansão dos direitos políticos às mulheres no Brasil. O foco recai sobre as regras eleitorais e argumentos mobilizados em contextos deliberativos que trataram do exercício dos direitos políticos pelas mulheres. Argumentamos que, apesar do direito ao sufrágio ter sido concedido em 1932, a participação política das mulheres casadas não foi garantida, ficando ainda na dependência das decisões de seus maridos nas três décadas subsequentes.Odireito pleno à participação só foi obtido em 1965. Materiais e Métodos: O trabalho mapeou os termos do debate relativo ao voto feminino nas Assembleias Constituintes de 1824, 1891, 1934 e 1946 e nos projetos de lei que abordaram o direito político das mulheres. Analisamos, também, as consequências práticas da legislação, compilando dados oficiais sobre a participação eleitoral das mulheres a partir de informações fornecidas pelos Boletins Eleitorais estaduais e arquivos do TSE. Resultados: Entre 1932 e 1964, a média de alistamento feminino sobre o total girou em torno de 34%. Ou seja, em geral, para dois homens alistados, havia uma mulher em condição de exercer seu direito de voto. A voluntariedade para as mulheres sem renda própria garantiu aos homens o poder de decidir se suas esposas exerceriam seu direito político. Trata-se de regra que foi deliberadamente construída para preservar a autoridade masculina, gerando desigualdade política de gênero. Discussão: Tradicionalmente, análises sobre a expansão do direito à cidadania privilegiam a dimensão de classe e assumiram que a expansão do sufrágio se deu pela incorporação dos mais pobres. O artigo contribui para esse debate, chamando atenção para a clivagem de gênero. Esta foi tão ou mais importante que a classe no processo brasileiro de expansão do sufrágio.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: gênero; extensão do sufrágio; cidadania; mulheres; voto feminino. Universal suffrage, but... only for men. Women’s vote in BrazilABSTRACT Introduction: The article aims at reconstructing the path towards the concession and expansion of political rights to women in Brazil. The focus relies on electoral rules and arguments used in deliberative contexts, which addressed women’s exercise of political rights. We sustain that, despite suffrage concession in 1932, political participation of married women was not guaranteed, because it remained dependent on husbands’ decisions for the following three decades. Full right to participate was only attained in 1965. Materials and Methods: Research depicted the terms used in the debates about women’s suffrage held during the Constitutional Assemblies of 1824, 1891, 1934 and 1946, and used in bills that approached women’s political rights. In addition to that, practical outcomes of legislation were evaluated, based on the compilation of official data about women’s electoral participation that stemmed from state electoral bulletins and TSE files. Results: Between 1932 and 1964, women were, in the mean, 34% of all registered voters. This means that, in general, for every two registered men, there was one woman in condition to exercise her right to vote. The fact that women without income were excused to vote secured to men the power to decide if their wives would exercise women’s political right. The rule was intentionally established to uphold male authority, engendering gender political inequality. Discussion: Traditionally, analysis about the extension of citizenship in Brazil favored social cleavages and assumed that suffrage expansion resulted from the inclusion of the poorest. This article adds to debate, drawing attention to gender cleavage. This was as much or more important than class in the process of expanding suffrage in Brazil.KEYWORDS: gender; extension of suffrage; citizenship; women; right to vote