Brazil

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Brazil has had a number of constitutions. The most recent was ratified on October the 5th, 1988. Brazils bicameral National Congress (Portuguese: Congresso Nacional) consists of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. ... Brazils bicameral National Congress (Portuguese: Congresso Nacional) consists of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. ... National Congress of Brazil - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... See also List of Presidents of Brazil The President of the Federal Republic of Brazil is the head of state and head of government of Brazil. ... Category: ... The Supreme Federal Tribunal (in Portuguese Supremo Tribunal Federal, or simply STF) is the highest court of law of the Federative Republic of Brazil. ... This article lists political parties in Brazil. ... Brazil elects on the national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Since 1994, as a result of a constitutional amendment which reduced the presidential term to four years, all federal and state elections in Brazil have coincided. ... Brazil is divided into 26 estados (states, singular: estado) and one district, the Distrito Federal (Brazilian Federal District) which contains the capital city, Brasília. ... This is a list of the current governors of the States of Brazil. ... There are serious issues in regard to abuses of human rights in Brazil. ... Traditionally, Brazil has been a leader in the inter-American community and has played an important role in collective security efforts, as well as in economic cooperation in the Western Hemisphere. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Constitutions of Brazil

Imperial Constitution (1824-1889)

The elaboration of the first Constitution of Brazil, in 1824 was quite difficult. Two factors contributed to the long-lasting unrest that plagued the country for nearly two decades: 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

• The large numbers of recent immigrants from Portugal (the so-called "Portuguese Party", who would wish to keep their privileges or were still loyal to the metropolitan government. These were found both among the wealthier parts of the population, as businessmen controlling Brazil's international trade, and the lower ones, as tradesmen and free urban workers (the Brazilian élite was mostly rural).
• The majority of the population was composed by slaves, prompting the whites to fear being massacred in the event of a rebellion caused by a failing state.

The first circumstance meant that despite the strong support of the crown prince Pedro I by the Brazilian landowners (the so-called "Brazilian Party"), the opinions of the reinóis (name then given to people fresh from Portugal) should be considered. As each side had very distinct and different objectives none could prevail and a compromise was needed. Elite may refer to Elitism - the concept of social stratification by innate or social qualities Elite - computer software game Elite - a skilled hacker Leet - an online culture or attitude sometimes identified by frequent use of leetspeak Elite Systems, a UK video game developer. ... Pedro I of Brazil (pron. ...

There were extra problems involved: the Constitutional Assembly had been elected to appreciate the applicability of Portuguese laws in Brazil, not to draft a new constitution. As a result, some of the Portuguese deputies refused to take part in it. On the other hand, some of the Brazilian deputies, the "liberal" ones, had been persecuted, some exiled others imprisoned. The Constitutional Assembly was, then, emptied of an appreciable number of opinions and would end reflecting the objectives of the "Brazilian Party", in detriment of the "Portuguese Party" and the liberals.

As the works progressed it became clear that the deputies were trying to establish a constitution that would:

• curtail the powers of the monarch,
• restrict most political rights to landowners and deny them to the Portuguese
• establish an authoritarian, but constitutional, monarchy, whose head of government would be an empowered prime minister.

The emperor wanted to remain an absolute monarch, wanted to protect the interests of the portuguese businessmen (while possibly mending the relationship with Portugal in the meantime) and prevent any form of power transfer from himself to the Parliament. A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... The term absolutism can mean: A belief in absolute truth moral absolutism, the belief that there is some absolute standard of right and wrong political absolutism, a political system where one person holds absolute power, also called apolytarchy from Gr. ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in orange and red—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ...

In a quite predictable move, and in the light of the wave of conservatism pumped by the Holy Alliance, the prince used its influence over the Brazilian army to dissolve the Constitutional Assembly and imposed on the country a constitution that concentrated all powers on the prince himself (eventually crowned "Emperor of Brazil"). The Holy Alliance was a coalition of Russia, Austria and Prussia created in 1815 at the behest of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, ostensibly to uphold Christianity in European political life but in practice as a bastion against revolution. ... Brazilian Army in Haiti The Brazilian Army is the land arm of the Brazilian Military. ...

The new constitution, published on March 25th, 1824 outlined the existence of four powers: 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

• Executive — The State Council
• Legislative — The General Assembly, formed by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies
• Judiciary — The Courts
• Moderator — Resolve any incompatibilities between the other three

The Emperor was the Moderator Power and controlled the Executive by indicating the members of the State Council, influenced the Legislative by being allowed to propose motions and having the power to dissolve it and also influenced the Judiciary, by appointing (for life) the members of the Highest Court. A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ... In law, the judiciary or judicature is the system of courts which administer justice in the name of the sovereign or state, and provide a mechanism for the resolution of disputes. ...

This constitution established the Brazilian Empire as a Unitary state (the provinces had little autonomy, if any). The Empire of Brazil is a political entity that comprised present-day Brazil under the rule of Emperors Pedro I and his son Pedro II. Founded in 1822, it was replaced by a republic in 1889. ... Province is a name for a secondary, or subnational entity of government in most countries. ...

Old Republic Constitution (1891-1930)

Constitution of 1891

After the fall of the empire, a provisional constitution was used while a definitive one was being written. The new constitution was written by the a group of jurists and politicians and later amended by a Constitutional Congress on February 24th, 1891. Image File history File linksMetadata Constituicao1891a. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Constituicao1891a. ... A jurist is a professional who studies, develops, applies or otherwise deals with the law. ... A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Meant to incorporate the basic principles of the Constitution of the United States, with the convenient exception of most liberal principles and the adoption of a slightly different (and somewhat lesser) form of federalism, this constitution was the first to provide modern institutions, capable of backing the country's economical evolution. Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme... Federalism is a political philosophy in which a group or body of members are bound together (Latin: foedus, covenant) with a governing representative head. ...

The main traits of the constitution were:

• Strong centralism (but not as strong as in the Imperial Constitution).
• Adoption of basic individual rights for the citizens, among them the habeas corpus.
• Adoption of the standard tripartion of power
• Creation of institutions (like National Guard) to accommodate the rural élite (more or less like the ranks of nobility issued by the Empire) and provide it with legal paramilitary powers to enforce their interests.

For other uses, see Habeas corpus (disambiguation). ... Separation of powers is the idea that the powers of a sovereign government should be split between two or more strongly independent entities, preventing any one person or group from gaining too much power. ...

Third Constitution (1934-1937)

The shortest-lived Brazilian constitution was promulgated on July 16th, 1934, four years after a coup d'état had overthrown the Old Republic. President Getúlio Vargas had planned to become a dictator, but the same élites that had controlled the state ever since the independence had struggled to prevent this. Vargas managed to overcome this opposition by accepting this constitution (he managed to be indirectly elected president for another four-year term ending in 1938). Later this would prove to be a merely distraction, while Vargas gathered forces to pull down the institutions and make of himself a dictator with fascist characteristics. 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (pron. ... Dictator was the title of a magistrate in ancient Rome appointed by the Senate to rule the state in times of emergency. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Fascism is a radical political ideology that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism and anti-liberalism. ...

Despite its short life, this constitution was important because it was the first time a Brazilian constitution was written from scratch by directly-elected deputies in almost fair multi-party elections. As a consequence of this, it incorporated a number of improvements to Brazilian political, social and economical life:

• Perfected the independence of the Supreme Court and put all Judiciary branches under its control
• Extended political rights to all adults, regardless of sex (long before all developed countries did this)
• Created a Judiciary branch to supervise elections, under the control of the Supreme Court
• Created a Judiciary branch to supervise working conditions and codified rights and duties for both the employers and the employees
• Was the first Brazilian constitution to list all four basic freedoms (speech, religion, movement and assembly alongside with the basic rights (life, freedom and property).

A public anti-war demonstration in Liverpool, England Freedom of speech is the concept of being able to speak freely without censorship. ... Freedom of movement is a human rights concept which is respected in the constitutions of numerous Western states. ... Freedom of assembly is the freedom to associate with, or organize any groups, gatherings, clubs, or organizations that one wishes. ... The term right to life is a political term used in controversies over various issues that involve the taking of a life (or what is perceived to be a life). ... // Use of the term The concept of property or ownership has no single or universally accepted definition. ...

"Estado Novo" Constitution (1937-1945)

The so-called Polaca ("Polish") Constitution was created by Vargas the same day he overthrew the institutions and established himself as a dictator (the short interval suggesting that he had had plenty of time to prepare the conspiracy). It was written by the then minister of Justice, Francisco Campos, and proofread by Vargas and his minister of War, Eurico Gaspar Dutra. There have been two regimes known as Estado Novo (meaning New State): Estado Novo (Brazil) Estado Novo (Portugal) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Look up Conspiracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Conspiracy, as a legal term, is an agreement of two or more people either to commit a crime or to achieve a lawful end by unlawful means: see conspiracy (crime), and conspiracy (civil). ... Eurico Gaspar Dutra, (1883-1974), was a Brazilian general, politician and president of Brazil from 1946-1951. ...

Inspired by the Polish April Constitution, of 1935 it was inteded to consolidate the powers of the president, in detriment of the Legislature, and to diminish the attributions and the autonomy of the judiciary. It was not however, intended to be completely totalitarian and repressive: It kept most social improvements of the previous constitution, and added more: The right to education, the right to culture preservation and to provide guidelines for family rights, building on the Civil Code of 1917. The April Constitution of Poland ( Polish Ustawa konstytucyjna 23 IV 1935) was the general law passed by the act of the Polish Sejm on April 23, 1935. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Compulsory education is education which is required by the government, usually at the national level. ... A civil code is a systematic compilation of laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of private law. ...

On the other side, however, was on the heavy concentration of executive power:

• State "presidents" (elected) would be replaced by "interventors" (appointed by the president of the republic)
• County mayors would in their turn be appointed by the interventors
• Capital punishment was to be enforced on traitors of the state (a fairly broad category)
• All requirements for an outright dictatorship (censorship, purges, militarism, state propaganda, cult of personality and others) were either required, allowed or not forbidden by the constitution

Under this constitution Brazil shifted towards fascism and if not for competent American diplomacy could have entered the World War II siding with the Axis. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the State as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to ones nation. ... Censorship is the control of speech and other forms of human expression. ... Militarism or militarist ideology is the doctrinal view of a society as being best served (or more efficient) when it is governed or guided by concepts embodied in the culture, doctrine, system, or people of the military. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Billboard of Joseph Stalin. ... Fascism is a radical political ideology that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism and anti-liberalism. ... This article is becoming very long. ... The word axis has several meanings: In mathematics, axis can mean: A straight line around which a geometric figure can be rotated. ...

Fourth Constitution (1946-1967)

When Vargas resigned, in 1945 a new constitution was written, once again by a directly-elect Constitutional Congress. This was the first Brazilian constitution to provide full political freedom (even the Brazilian Comunist Party was made legal) and the last to officially name the country Estados Unidos do Brazil (and the spelling of the country's name would change later that year). It was also the first with an additional "Act of Transitory Measures" (a set of laws that should come into effect before the constitution itself and could not be changed). Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (pron. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The history of the Brazilian Communist Party (in Portuguese, Partido Comunista Brasileiro), best known by the abbreviation PCB, started with its foundation on March 25, 1922 in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. ...

The key points of this constitution were:

• Restore all rights and freedoms as expressed by the 1934 Constitution which had been supressed in 1937
• Establish full equality of all before the law
• Created mechanisms to prevent and to fight religious prejudice and censorship (the latter with some exceptions regarding moral censorship of spectacles and public shows), mentioned the right to postal privacy and the inviolability of homes (until then police could break into anyone's house without a permit)
• Improved federalism by extending the powers of the member states (for instance, it was the first time states were allowed to have flags and anthems).
• Although it was not the first time all adults were granted full political rights, it was under this constitutional that the first free (and quite fair) elections were held at all levels and for all offices.
• Elections for executive offices would be held in a single turn
• Voters could freely choose candidates of whatever party, including for vice president and vice governor

The last two would become the major problems of this constitution, as they were prone to produce and fuel both legitimacy crises (as the presidents were usually elect by less than the majority of the votes) and conspiracies (as the vice-president was usually from another party). 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Federalism is a political philosophy in which a group or body of members are bound together (Latin: foedus, covenant) with a governing representative head. ... A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern a society, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. ... The tricolour flag of France A flag is a symbol, often displayed on a piece of cloth that can be flown from a pole or mast, and is generally used for signalling or identification. ... An anthem is a choral composition to an English religious text sung in church services. ... A vice president is an officer in government or business who is next in rank below a president. ... The word legitimacy comes from the Latin word legitimare and it has two uses: Legitimacy (political science) is whether or not people accept the validity of a law or ruling or the validity of a governing regime. ...

Sixth Constitution (1967-1988)

After the US-backed coup d'état of April 1st, 1964 the controllers of the new régime kept the 1946 constitution and promised to restore democracy as soon as possible. However, they eventually did not and were faced with a dilemma, as every measure they took was strictly illegal and unconstitutional from the very beginning.^{[citation needed]} A coup détat (pronounced ), or simply coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government through unconstitutional means by a part of the state establishment — mostly replacing just the high-level figures. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...

The so-called Institutional Acts issued by the president were, in practice, placed higher than the Constitution and could amend it -- but they were a perversion of the Brazilian judicial system.^{[citation needed]}

In 1967 the situation had come to a point that was unbearable: the military could not keep the farce of democracy any more and was eager to enable itself with "proper" laws to fight subversivos (anyone that opposed the régime). The constitution was denounced as "obsolete" as the "new institutions" were not foreseen in it. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ...

A new constitution was written by a team of lawyers commissioned by Marshall Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, then president, ammended (under the instructions of Castelo Branco himself) by the minister of Justice, Carlos Medeiros Silva and voted as whole by the Brazilian Parliament (already purged of most opponents of the status quo). Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco (September 20, 1900 - July 18, 1967). ... Brazils bicameral National Congress (Portuguese: Congresso Nacional) consists of the Federal Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. ...

The main features of the new Constitution were:

• Restriction of political rights: free elections would only be held at state and county level, but not in federal territories or cities considered as of interest of national security for whatever reason (such cities were specified as those lying by the international border, state capitals, "important" industrial centres, university towns, jungle towns, towns close to power plants, mining sites, etc). About 500 cities/towns were listed, the largest and most important ones.
• Restriction of civil rights: any meeting, assembly or gathering of people should be formal, must be previously authorised and conducted under supervision. Unauthorised meetings would be disbanded by the police and participants sued (if lucky; they were more likely sent to be imprisoned or worse).
• Creation of a military police to patrol the cities and "provide public security".
• Removal of all privileges of judges, allowing the president to force them to retire or to remove them (the later never used)
• Disbanding of all political parties (which had existed for only twenty years) and creation of a bipartisan system comprising the official party, Aliança Renovadora Nacional -- Arena (National Renovating Alliance), and the controlled opposition of the Movimento Democrático Brasileiro -- MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement).
• Creation of an indirect election system ("Colégio Eleitoral") to choose the president.
• Limitation of state autonomy
• Establishment of a series of controls, commissions and institutions to regulate and report a number of aspects of civil, social and economic life, thus intensifying an already existing trend towards bureaucracy^{[citation needed]} that would greatly hamper the Brazilian economy in the future.
• Granting the president the right to issue decrees (Decretos-Lei) that would be binding after 30 days if the Congress "did not have the time" to vote them.

In 1969 this already very restrictive Constitution was widely amended by a Junta and made even more dictatorial. The 1969 Amendment is sometimes regarded as another Constitution. It brought some extra tools for the régime: Bureaucracy is a concept in sociology and political science referring to the way that the administrative execution and enforcement of legal rules is socially organized. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... In modern usage, junta (pronounced as in Spanish HUN-ta or HOON-ta) typically refers to a military dictatorship, especially in Latin America, which is officially run by a committee of high-ranking military officers. ...

• State of emergency
• Capital punishment
• Exile as punishment
• Suspension of habeas corpus
• Special military courts to try members of the military accused of crimes
• Transfer of command of the military police from each state to the Ministry of the Army
• Restrictions on travel

This constitution slowly faded out, disfigured by a series of amendments as the régime opened, until it was finally replaced by the current one. For other uses, see Habeas corpus (disambiguation). ...

Seventh and current

The Constitution of 1988, under the presidency of José Sarney, is the seventh to conduct Brazil since its Independence. It appears as a reaction to the period of the Military and which had Regimen to the guarantee concerns of social and human rights. The Constitution was revised from 1995, therefore it had emendations that the new routes taken for history, the politics and the technology had become necessary to adjust it it, in the case of the Habeas Date. These alterations have been controversial. The 1988 constitution created new constitutional guarantees, such as the errand of injunction and the habeas date. Breaching with the authoritarian logic of the Constitution of 1967, the Letter characterized as unbailable crimes to torture and to actions seted against the democratic state and the constitutional order, thus creating devices constitutional to block blows of any natures. It determined the direct election of the president of the Republic, the governors of the States and mayors, besides foreseeing the fiscal responsibilities. The new constitution extended to allow those of the National Congress making Brazil a more democratic country. As of March 2006 this Constitution has been amended 52 times. 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

(Spanish)Constitution in the unofficial Spanish translation

• Constitution of Brazil - In English. Includes all amendments.