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(see: States Of Brazil ). 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 pegging its value to the dollar. Inflation – which had become a fact of Brazilian life – was cut dramatically, enabling him to win the presidential race against Lula in 1994. During his first term, a constitutional amendment was passed to enable a sitting president to run for re-election, after which he again beat Lula in 1998. Lula would eventually be elected in his own right in 2002. 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 to by the previous government and a line of discourse friendly to 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. 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'' (Legislative 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 governatorial 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 it's own ''constitution'' which is called ''organic law''(''Lei Organica''), to collect taxes and fees, to maintain a municipal police force (albeit with very restricted powers), 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 possess 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
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 Brasília – DF Administrative divisions
.]] Independence September 7 1822 (from Portugal ) National holiday Independence Day, 7 September (1822) Constitution Now: 5 October 1988 Brazil has had seven Constitution s:
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 (, the first two candidates of the first turn go for a second one. Senators and mayors of smaller cities (less than 400,000 habitants) are elected in a single round ( Winner Takes All ). Deputies and city council members are elected by Proportional elections with Open Party List s: 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 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). POLITICAL PARTIES AND ELECTIONS JUDICIAL BRANCH See Also: Justice in Brazil 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 country is divided into Judicial Districts named ''comarcas'', which are composed of 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 the subject of Judicial Review following appeals to the Courts Of Second Instance . Judgments of courts of first instance are usually made by only one judge. The Brazilian judiciary system uses Jury trials only for judging crimes against the person. In all Brazilian states, there is one court of second instance, named the Justice Tribunal (''Tribunal de Justiça'' in Portuguese). Some states, as São Paulo and Minas Gerais , used to have Courts Of Appeals (''Tribunal de Alçada'' in Portuguese) too, but with different jurisdictions. The highest court of a state is the Justice Tribunal. 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 five 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 Court s 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 (''Supremo Tribunal Federal'' in Portuguese, shorthand STF). The STJ grants a Special Appeal (''Recurso Especial'' in Portuguese) when a judgement of a court of second instance offends a Federal Statute disposition or when two or more second instance courts make different rulings on the same federal statute. There are parallel courts for Labor Law , Electoral Law and Military Law . The STF grants Extraordinary Appeals (''Recurso Extraordinário'' in Portuguese) when judgements of second instance courts violate the constitution. The STF is the last instance for the writ of Habeas Corpus and for reviews of judgments from the STJ. The superior courts do not analyze any factual questions in their judgments, but only the application of the law and the constitution. Facts and evidences are judged by the courts of second instance, except in specific cases such as writs 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 , 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: Green with a large yellow diamond in the center bearing a blue celestial globe with 27 white five-pointed Star s (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). SEE ALSO
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