NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
The Politics and Economy of Brazil Introduction Brazil is the largest country in Latin America. The size of its territory places it fourth, behind Russia, USA, Canada and China. Brazil's population is about 160 million, which accounts for 2. 6 % of Earth' population. This makes this country one of the biggest economic powers in the world. Because of certain socio-political factors, Brazil is usually referred to as the developing country, but it reserves a special place, among them, because of its economic capability.
As a matter of fact, many economists consider Brazil to be an industrial nation and suggest that its representatives should participate in G 8 summits. For hundreds of years, Brazil remained a Portuguese colony, with well developed system of slavery, which was only abolished in 1888. This, along with the fact that, for a long time, there were no other industries in Brazil, but sugar manufacturing, had left a negative economical impact, which can still be felt today. Nevertheless, the vastness of the country and its large population, makes it automatically competitive, in economical and political sense. This essay will focus on analysing the different aspects of Brazil's political and economical situations. Politics (1) Brazil is a federal republic with the presidential form of government.
Its administrative division accounts for 26 states and one Federal District, which has an autonomous status. Just like in United States, the Brazilian government consists of three independent branches Legislative, Executive and Judicial. The representatives of Legislative and Executive branches are being directly elected by the people, while the representatives of Judicial branch are being appointed, according to the procedure, which is defined by the Brazilian constitution. This form of government was chosen in 1891, when Brazil's first republican Constitution introduced the system of checks and balances, as the most important principle, which was to define the functions of Brazilian government. The division of government in three independent branches was being confirmed by later Constitutions, including the very last one. According to the presently active Constitution, which was approved by the National Congress in 1986, the President of the Republic is to be elected for the term of four years, without being able to get reelected.
The Legislative power in Brazil belongs to the National Congress, which consists of Senate (81 members) and the Chamber of Deputies (513 members). The members of both, Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, are being elected directly by the citizens of Brazil. The number of Senators that can be elected from each state, depends on the size of its population. There are 20 political parties in Brazil, which participate in elections to the Congress. The Executive power in the state is exercised by the Administration of President and by the Federal government, which consists of 10 ministries. The ministers are being appointed by the President and are only subjected to him personally.
Every state has its own government, which structure reflects the structure of the Federal government. The executive power, on the state level, is represented by the Governors, who are also being elected directly by the people. The Judicial branch plays an arbitrary role in solving the conflicts. The Supreme Federal Court is responsible for the correct interpretation of the Constitution. It consists of 11 ministers, selected by the President, after his choice is being approved by the Senate. (1) (2) The contemporary politics in Brazil begin in 1964, when the President Joao Goular was being removed from the office by the military conspirators.
From this time on, the army played a very important role in Brazil's political life, up until 1979, when it slowly began to distance itself from the political processes, within the country. But until this time, all five Presidents that served in the office, during the military rule, were army generals. The most popular of them was Castelo Branco, who was elected as the President, because of overwhelming support of small business' owners, who always voted for anti Communist politicians. He declared the stabilization of socio-political situation, in the country, as his main goal. In order to accomplish this, the citizens' individual rights were being severely limited. For example, the principle of collective bargaining was temporarily abolished and workers were being deprived of their essential right to organise strikes.
Nevertheless, by 1968 it started to become clear to everyone that such strict measures were fully justified. The inflation ration was being brought to the minimum, while people's welfare was considerably improved. The years 1967 - 1974 are associated in Brazil with the fastest economical growth, which this country had ever experienced, throughout its history. On the other hand, the oppressive nature of military rule was becoming too obvious for everybody.
The Brazilian government came under a lot of criticism, from within the country and from abroad. The introduction of political reforms in Brazil became only the question of time. Since the middle of seventies, the political regime in Brazil started to become more and more liberal. Many political dissidents, which had immigrated after 1964, were allowed to return back.
Also, people were allowed again to participate in mass demonstrations. In 1982, for the first time since the military coup in 1964, the state governors were being elected by the ordinary citizens, instead of being appointed. (2) The present political situation in Brazil can be characterized by the dominance of leftist parties. This situation goes back to 1985, when Tancredo Neves was being elected as the President. It was a very remarkable event for all the Brazilians, since Neves did not have any affiliation with the army. After his death, the Vice-President Hose Sarnei took over. He promised to the Brazilians that he will do his utmost, so that the new Constitution would be adopted.
It happened on October 15, 1988. This Constitution still remains in effect. In 1992, the new Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, had introduced the public to his plan of how to beat the inflation. Its main idea consisted of linking the value of Brazilian cruzeiro to American dollar.
Despite the criticism, this plan worked perfectly, although, the real reason for it, was the fact that Cardoso had deprived the Brazilian bureaucracy much of it former privileges. Also, he allowed a few large energy corporations to be privatized, which helped Brazilian economy to get out of the state of stagnation. There is much of instability on Brazil's political arena, in present time. Brazil's President Luiz Lula da Silva was able to win Presidential elections in 2003, because of his left-wing populism, which attracted a large portion of marginalised electorate. He promised to fight social inequality, by making Medicare more affordable for the people with the low income. Also, we wowed to do his best to improve the quality of school education.
Yet, most of his promises remained empty. Just like any left-wing politician, who uses the social demagogy to achieve his secular agenda, da Silva's primary concern became the improvement of well being of the members of his immediate family. Almost instantly, after the elections, da Silva became involved in series of scandals, which were related to the money laundering and bribery. Curiously enough, it did not cost da Silva his job, even more he was just reelected. This points out to the fact that the corruption in Brazil becomes socially acceptable. One of the reasons for this, is the racial nature of Brazilians, as nation.
Many political observers point out to the fact that the corruption, in Brazilian society, can be also thought of as beneficial to the country, from the certain point of view. This is because it helps to keep the nation united. Because of their different racial backgrounds, Brazilians do not posses the strong sense of national solidarity. It is the most important effect of Brazilian colonial legacy. Just as in any multicultural country, the nation's unity remains as rather abstract principle, which does not affect people, on practical level. Despite the fact that there are no regional dialects, in Brazil, the racial background plays a very important role, in how Brazilians affiliate themselves politically.
The majority of people, who are the least affected by the racial mixing, traditionally vote for the right-wing political parties. Despite the fact that Brazil is usually being referred to as being culturally diverse more than any other country, according to US Bureau of Statistics, by the year 2000, 55 % of Brazilians were White, with different cultural roots. The Mulattoes represented 38 % of population and only 6 % recognized themselves as Blacks. (3) The fact that more and more Brazilians vote for Socialists, correspond to the continuous aging of White potion of population, while the percentage of racially diverse people increases. The most popular political parties in Brazil are: Brazilian Worker's Party, which holds 15 % of the seats in Chamber of Deputies, Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, with 14 % of the seats and Brazilian Social Democratic Party, with 13. 6 % of the seats. (4) One does not have to be a political scientist to realize that the left-wing parties dominate the Brazilian political life. Nevertheless, right after the recent elections, the popularity rating of Brazilian Socialists began to drop rapidly. Many ordinary citizens recall the time when they were able to think of the future in positive terms, because of political and economical stability, which was provided to them by the military rulers.
It is the fact that current political turbulence, in Brazil, is commonly regarded as the result of Leftist rule. The political surveys show that Leftists are losing people's trust. The only reason they were able to retain their dominance, during the last elections, is because the demographic shifts, within the society. Whether the people are going to remain politically active, in order to insure that the political reforms become irreversible, will define Brazil's future, as nation.
Economy (1) The most important factor, which affects the overall state of Brazilian economy, is government's involvement into economic affairs, to the degree, which gives many economists the right to suggest that Brazil is actually a socialist country. The country's main industries remain under strong governmental control. This, in its turn, allows the government to spend more money to provide a variety of free services to its citizens. Yet, at the same time, it negatively affects the economy, because it suffers under the burden of heavy taxation. This can also be thought of as the part of colonial legacy. Traditionally, the governmental authority in Brazil has always been very strong.
But it was more administrative than intrusive, in time of military dictatorship. Back than, the private commercial initiative was being encouraged, while today, people do not see much of a point to start businesses, since the heavy taxation will leave them with almost no profit, anyways. In recent months there was a lot of political turbulence in Brazil, which makes it hard to asses the situation, in terms of stability. Many governmental policies had changed drastically. But it is too early for us to talk about the new course of Brazilian government as set. In 1950 - 1975, the growth of Brazilian economy was being considered as the fastest in the whole world.
The government was heavily investing into the large industrial projects, such as building factories, opening new mines and building hydroelectric power plants. In those years, the Brazilian government was employing method of deficit financing, when astronomical sums of money were being invested into the large enterprises, which were meant to provide the government with an immediate profit, within a few years. Such strategy proved to be very effective, for a while. But, ...
Free research essays on topics related to: chamber of deputies, ordinary citizens, political and economical, form of government, judicial branch
Research essay sample on Chamber Of Deputies Political And Economical
