![Sessaoconstituinte](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Sessaoconstituinte.jpg)
During its independent political history,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
has had seven constitutions. The most recent was ratified on October 5, 1988.
Imperial Constitution (1824)
Background
Prior to its independence on September 7, 1822, Brazil had no formal Constitution, since
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
only adopted its first Constitution on September 23, 1822, 16 days after Brazil proclaimed independence.
In 1823, Emperor
Pedro I started the political process of writing a Constitution.
The elaboration of the first Constitution of Brazil was quite difficult and the power struggle involved resulted in a long-lasting unrest that plagued the country for nearly two decades. Two major facts increased the troubles:
* Large numbers of recent immigrants from Portugal (the so-called "Portuguese Party"), who wanted to keep their privileges or who 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
elite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
was mostly rural).
* The majority of the population was composed of
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
s, prompting the whites to fear being massacred in the event of a rebellion caused by a failing state.
The first circumstance meant that despite 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 recent immigrants from Portugal) should be considered. As each side had very distinct and different objectives none could prevail and a compromise was needed.
There were also additional problems: the Constitutional Assembly had been elected to decide 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, the liberal Brazilian deputies had been persecuted: some were exiled while others were imprisoned. Thus the Constitutional Assembly did not hear an appreciable number of opinions and would reflect the objectives of the "Brazilian Party", to the detriment of the "Portuguese Party" and the liberals.
As the draft constitution 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, and
* establish an
authoritarian
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...
, but
constitutional
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
,
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...
, whose head of government would be the Emperor himself, aided by a group of ministers of his choice.
![Joao Gomes da Silveira Mendonça](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Joao_Gomes_da_Silveira_Mendon%C3%A7a.jpg)
The emperor did not want to serve as a mere decorative
figurehead
In politics, a figurehead is a person who ''de jure'' (in name or by law) appears to hold an important and often supremely powerful title or office, yet ''de facto'' (in reality) exercises little to no actual power. This usually means that they ...
, but rather to protect the interests of the Portuguese businessmen (who were the main economic base of Brazil) and prevent any further cession of his power to the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.
In light of the wave of conservatism led by the
Holy Alliance
The Holy Alliance (german: Heilige Allianz; russian: Священный союз, ''Svyashchennyy soyuz''; also called the Grand Alliance) was a coalition linking the monarchist great powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia. It was created after ...
, the Emperor used his influence over the
Brazilian Army to dissolve the Constitutional Assembly, in what became known as the
Night of Agony The Night of Agony ( pt, Noite da Agonia) was a historical event in the Brazilian Empire, occurring in the pre-dawn hours of 12 November 1823, when emperor Dom Pedro I ordered the army to invade and dissolve the . The assembly resisted for several h ...
. On his own authority, he then issued a constitution that concentrated the executive power on the Emperor himself (eventually crowned "Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Defender of Brazil").
Based on the
French Constitution of 1791
The French Constitution of 1791 (french: Constitution française du 3 septembre 1791) was the first written constitution in France, created after the collapse of the absolute monarchy of the . One of the basic precepts of the French Revolution ...
and the
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy ( es, link=no, Constitución Política de la Monarquía Española), also known as the Constitution of Cádiz ( es, link=no, Constitución de Cádiz) and as ''La Pepa'', was the first Constituti ...
, the Constitution endowed the Assembly with both status and authority. It created executive, legislative, judicial, and moderating branches as "delegations of the nation" with the separation of those powers envisaged as providing balances in support of the Constitution and the rights it enshrined.
The Constitution of 1824 was rather less
parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
than the draft prepared by the Constituent Assembly. In fact, it was for all purposes a peculiar and unique regime: a "presidential" monarchy. That did not mean, by any means, that the Brazilian monarch had prerogatives resembling those of a
tyrant
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...
or
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...
. The individual guarantees of human liberty and dignity were inserted into the articles of the Charter and were respected. The Emperor would not act in areas reserved to the legislative branch and the judiciary, such as to create laws or to judge and sentence.
Even though it vested the emperor with more power than its would-be predecessor, the Imperial constitution was considered very progressive for its time. It was considered more progressive than several constitutions used by European liberal powers.
The Constitution
![PeterI-de Sa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/PeterI-de_Sa.jpg)
The new constitution, published on March 25, 1824 outlined the existence of four powers:
*
Executive
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dire ...
— The State Council
*
Legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
— The General Assembly, formed by the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies
*
Judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
— The Courts
*
Moderator — Vested in the Emperor, was supposed to resolve any incompatibilities between the other three, acting as a "neutral" power, in accordance to the theories of the French-Swiss thinker
Benjamin Constant
Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (; 25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a French people, Franco-Switzerland, Swiss political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion.
A committed repub ...
.
The Emperor controlled the Executive by nominating the members of the State Council, influenced the Legislative by being allowed to propose motions and having the power to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies (senators sat for life, however, being individually chosen by the emperor among the top three candidates in a given province) and also influenced the Judiciary, by appointing (for life) the members of the Highest Court.
This constitution established the
Brazilian Empire
The Empire of Brazil was a 19th-century state that broadly comprised the territories which form modern Brazil and (until 1828) Uruguay. Its government was a representative parliamentary constitutional monarchy under the rule of Emperors Dom Pe ...
as a Unitary state (the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
s had little autonomy, if any). The Amendment (''Ato Adicional'') of August 12, 1834, enacted in a period of liberal reform, authorized the provinces to create their own legislative chambers, which were empowered to legislate on financial matters, create taxes and their own corps of civil servants under a chief executive nominated by the central power; it was however revised by an "interpretive" act of May 1840, enacted in a period of conservative reaction, which allowed the central power to appoint judges and police officers in the provinces.
On July 20, 1847, a Decree (number 523) established the post of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, formally titled "president of the Council of Ministers" (not to be confused with the State Council, whose ten members sat for life and which in the late Empire functioned solely as an advising body to the Emperor). Appointed by the emperor, the Prime Minister then chose a cabinet of state secretaries, or ministers. The cabinet had to maintain the support of a majority in the General Assembly. The emperor's acts were not valid without the countersignature of the minister responsible for the issue concerned. The 1847 decree thus turned the Brazilian Empire into a standard
constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
with a
parliamentary system
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
.
The franchise was very limited, being censitary and indirect: no male citizen who was not head of a household and/or had a net yearly income of less than a hundred
milréis
The mil-réis (literally one thousand réis) was effectively a unit of currency in both Portugal (until 1911) and Brazil (until 1942).
As the value of the Portuguese real has historically been low (minted in copper since the 16th century), accoun ...
was allowed to vote in the primary elections that chose actual electors, empowered with the right to vote for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. As a result, Brazilian legislatures had a decided conservative slant. Combined with widespread electoral frauds, no Prime Minister chosen by the Emperor – who had the power to order the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies and new elections to it – ever failed to win a parliamentary majority in subsequent elections.
The Constitution of 1824, enacted in the name of the
Holy Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
, also instituted
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
as the
state religion
A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular state, secular, is not n ...
, allowing other religions to be practiced only in private: non-Catholic places of worship could not be fashioned to appear as religious buildings from the outside. It also excluded
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
from Brazilian citizenship, by extending it to all people born in Brazil who were freeborn or freed.
Old Republic Constitution (1891)
Background
On November 15, 1889, the emperor
Pedro II was deposed, Brazilian monarchy abolished and the 1824 Constitution was put out of effect. No
provisional constitution A provisional constitution, interim constitution or transitional constitution is a constitution intended to serve during a transitional period until a permanent constitution is adopted. The following countries currently have,had in the past,such a c ...
was used while a definitive successor document was being written. The writing process began in 1889, by a group of
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
s and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
s, and the text was later amended by a Constitutional Congress on February 24, 1891.
The Constitution
![Rui Barbosa2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Rui_Barbosa2.jpg)
In its final form, the new Constitution meant to create a federal state to promote individual liberties above all, following the basic principles of the
Constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
, albeit with the adoption of a slightly different (and somewhat more centralized) form of
federalism
Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
.
The main traits of the constitution were:
* Federalism: the provinces were turned into states whose indissoluble union was taken as forming the Body Politic of the Brazilian Federation. Governors (at the time called State Presidents) were to be elected by direct vote and a fixed term of office.
* Separation of the State and Church.
* Male universal suffrage (with exceptions, mostly
illiterates,
beggars
Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public place ...
and members of
monastic order
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...
s) and basic individual rights for all citizens. Abolition of the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
.
* Adoption of standard three-way
separation of powers
Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
under a
presidential republic
A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separation ...
on the American model; direct elections for all members of the Legislative and chief officers of the Executive branch. The Executive branch was headed by a President of the Republic, elected by direct voting (rather than an
Electoral college in the American model) – who had a four-year term and could not be reelected for a second, successive, term – and his freely chosen cabinet of ministers. The Senate was reorganized as the Upper House of the Legislative branch, formed of representatives of the states (as opposed to the representatives of the people in the Chamber of Deputies) directly elected and with fixed terms of office.
Third Constitution (1934)
Background
In 1930, after severe political problems, President
Washington Luís
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa (; 26 October 1869 – 4 August 1957) was a Brazilian politician who served as the 13th president of Brazil. Elected governor of São Paulo state in 1920 and president of Brazil in 1926, Washington Luís belonge ...
was overthrown by a ''
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
''. The 1891 Constitution was annulled and the Provisional President
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...
ruled as a ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' personal
dictator
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...
, but the state landed elites (who had controlled the Brazilian state ever since independence) struggled to prevent this from continuing. In 1932, in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
, the
Constitutionalist Revolution
The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 (sometimes also referred to as Paulista War or Brazilian Civil War) is the name given to the uprising of the population of the Brazilian state of São Paulo against the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 when ...
demanded a Constitution. As a result, a Constitutional Assembly was elected and the constitution was promulgated on July 16, 1934, less than four years after the ''coup d'état'' had overthrown the Old Republic. Vargas accepted this constitution in order to legitimise his power.
The Constitution
This constitution was the shortest-lived Constitution of Brazil, lasting only three years (until 1937).
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 multi-party elections. As a consequence of this, it incorporated a number of improvements to Brazilian political, social and economical life:
* Granted complete independence to the Supreme Court and subordinated all other courts to it.
* Extended political rights to all adults, regardless of sex.
* Introduced
proportional voting
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
for elections to the Chamber of Deputies, which included representatives of the people as well as a minority of representatives from trade unions and other professional organizations – a
corporatist
Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...
device introduced under the shock of the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
and the influence of Italian
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
.
* Created a specific
electoral court
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
to supervise elections, under the control of the Supreme Court (previously the supervision of elections was under control of the Legislative Branch).
* Following a trend set by the German
Weimar Constitution
The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...
, acknowledged a whole host of
social rights
Economic, social and cultural rights, (ESCR) are socio-economic human rights, such as the right to education, right to housing, right to an adequate standard of living, right to health, victims' rights and the right to science and culture. Econo ...
alongside political and civil ones: the national
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
, the
eight-hour workday
The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses.
An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 1 ...
, mandatory weekly rest, paid vacations and indemnity for unmotivated firing.
* Created a
labor court
A labor court (or labour court or industrial tribunal) is a governmental judiciary body which rules on labor or employment-related matters and disputes. In a number of countries, labor cases are often taken to separate national labor high courts. O ...
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
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...
,
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
,
movement
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
and
assembly
Assembly may refer to:
Organisations and meetings
* Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions
* General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...
) alongside the basic rights (
life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
,
freedom
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...
and
property
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
).
"Estado Novo" Constitution (1937)
Background
![Getulio Vargas (1930)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Getulio_Vargas_%281930%29.jpg)
On the night of November 10, 1937, Vargas announced in a nationwide radio address that he was seizing emergency powers under the pretext of suppressing a
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
-backed coup (the so-called
Cohen Plan
The Cohen Plan ( pt, Plano Cohen), was a document forged by the Brazilian military with the aim of establishing the Estado Novo dictatorship in November 1937. One of the greatest falsifications in Brazilian history and an example of the intersect ...
). On the same night, he promulgated a new constitution that effectively transformed his presidency into a legal dictatorship (the short interval suggesting that the
self-coup
A self-coup, also called autocoup (from the es, autogolpe), is a form of coup d'état in which a nation's head, having come to power through legal means, tries to stay in power through illegal means. The leader may dissolve or render powerless ...
had been planned well in advance). It was written by the minister of Justice, Francisco Campos, and proofread by Vargas and his minister of War (joint-commander of the Army and Air Force),
Eurico Gaspar Dutra
Eurico Gaspar Dutra (; 18 May 1883 – 11 June 1974) was a Brazilian military leader and politician who served as the 16th president of Brazil from 1946 to 1951. He was the first President of the Fourth Brazilian Republic, which followed the ...
.
The Constitution
The new document was called the "''Polaca''", or
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
, Constitution because it was inspired by the Polish
April Constitution
The April Constitution of Poland ( pl, Ustawa konstytucyjna 23 IV 1935 or ''Konstytucja kwietniowa'') was the general law passed by the act of the Polish Sejm on 23 April 1935. It introduced in the Second Polish Republic a presidential syste ...
of 1935. It was intended to consolidate the powers of the president, while substantially limiting the powers and autonomy of Congress and the judiciary. While clearly dictatorial, it was not 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 education has been recognized as a human right in a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognizes a right to free, compulsory primary education for ...
, the
right to culture preservation and guidelines for
family rights, building on the
Civil Code
A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations.
A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core ar ...
of 1917.
On the other side, however, it heavily concentrated executive power:
* Political parties were dissolved.
* State "presidents" (elected) would be replaced by interventionists (appointed by the president of the republic).
* Mayors would in turn be appointed by the interventionists.
*
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
was to be enforced on "
traitor
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
s to the state" (a fairly broad category).
* All requirements for an outright dictatorship (
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
,
purge
In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertak ...
s,
militarism
Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
, state
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
,
cult of personality
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
and others) were either required, allowed or not forbidden by the constitution.
Fifth Constitution (1946)
Background
When Vargas was forced to resign in 1945, a new constitution was written, once again by a directly elected Constitutional Congress.
The Constitution
This was the first Brazilian constitution to provide full political freedom (even the
Brazilian Communist Party
The Brazilian Communist Party ( pt-BR, Partido Comunista Brasileiro), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in Brazil founded on 25 March 1922 which makes the disputed claim of being the oldest political party stil ...
was made legal, though briefly) 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 came into effect ''before'' the constitution itself and could not be changed).
The key points of this constitution were:
* Restore all rights and freedoms as expressed by the 1934 Constitution which had been suppressed in 1937.
* Reducing the powers of the presidency. While it remained the key institution, numerous institutional safeguards were put in place to prevent a repeat of Vargas' authoritarian excesses.
* Establish full equality before the law.
* Created mechanisms to prevent and oppose 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 enter anyone's house without a permit).
* Improved
federalism
Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
by extending the powers of the member
states (for instance, it was the first time states were allowed to have
flag
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
s and
anthem
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
s).
* Although it was not the first time all adults were granted full political rights, it was under this constitution that the first free and fair elections were held at all levels and for all offices.
* Elections for executive offices would be held in a single round.
* Voters could freely choose candidates of any party, including for
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
and
vice governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
.
The last two would become the major problems of this constitution, as they were prone to produce and fuel both
legitimacy
Legitimacy, from the Latin ''legitimare'' meaning "to make lawful", may refer to:
* Legitimacy (criminal law)
* Legitimacy (family law)
* Legitimacy (political)
See also
* Bastard (law of England and Wales)
* Illegitimacy in fiction
* Legit (d ...
crises (as the presidents were usually elected by less than a majority of votes) and conspiracies (as the vice-president was usually from another party).
Sixth Constitution (1967)
Background
![Castelobranco](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Castelobranco.jpg)
After the military
''coup d'état'' of April 1, 1964 the controllers of the new regime kept the 1946 constitution and promised to restore democracy as soon as possible. However, they did not and were faced with a dilemma, as every major measure they took was strictly against that current constitution, including the coup itself.
The so-called
Institutional Acts
The Institutional Acts were the founding legislation of the Brazilian military dictatorship
The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, wit ...
sequentially issued by the military presidents were, in practice, placed higher than the Constitution and could amend it. Even under these circumstances, the first military president,
Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco
Marshal Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco () (September 20, 1897 – July 18, 1967) was a Brazilian military leader and politician. He served as the first president of the Brazilian military dictatorship after the 1964 military coup d'etat. ...
, was committed to restoring civilian rule in 1966. However, a large number of military and civilian extremists felt the military had to stay in power for some years. They also wanted to pass more "proper" laws to fight ''subversive individuals'' (anyone that opposed the regime).
By 1965, however, the situation reached an unbearable point when opposition candidates won the governorship of
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...
and
Guanabara. Castelo Branco refused to annul the results. A coup was only averted when Castelo Branco agreed to support the military's reform program. By this time, the military had decided to drop all pretense of democracy. It also felt the 1946 constitution was "obsolete" as the "new institutions" were not foreseen in it.
A new constitution was written by a team of lawyers commissioned by Castelo Branco and amended (under the instructions of Castelo Branco himself) by the Minister of Justice,
Carlos Medeiros Silva
Carlos may refer to:
Places
;Canada
* Carlos, Alberta, a locality
;United States
* Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community
* Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County
* Carlos, Minnesota, a small city
* Carlos, West Virginia
;Elsewhere ...
and voted as whole by the
Brazilian Parliament (already purged of most opponents of the
status quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...
).
The Original Constitution
The main features of the new Constitution were:
* Restriction of political rights: direct elections would only be held at state and county level, but not in federal territories or cities considered of interest to national security for any reason (such cities were specified as those near the international border, state capitals, important industrial centers, university towns, jungle towns, towns close to power plants, mining sites, etc). About 500 cities/towns were listed--in practice, the largest and most important ones. Presidents and governors were chosen in indirect elections by the correspondent Legislative branch (the National Congress and State Legislatures). However, these "elections" were elaborate shams. In practice, the president was selected by the military command, while governors were hand-picked by the president and his advisers. The federal and state legislatures were dominated by government supporters, meaning the government candidate could not possibly be defeated.
* Restriction of civil rights: any meeting, assembly, or gathering of people should be formal, must be previously authorized, and conducted under supervision. Unauthorized meetings would be disbanded by the police and participants sued if lucky; they were more likely imprisoned, tortured, or worse.
* Military (uniformed) State Police Corps acknowledged as reserve corps of the Federal Army (as well as State Fire Brigades), with the task of outdoor patrolling to "provide public security", thereby reducing the autonomy of the existing civilian (plainclothes) police to an investigative role.
* Removal of all privileges of judges, allowing the president to force them to retire or to remove them (the latter was never used).
* After previously disbanding of all political parties (which had existed for only twenty years), new rules were written on the formation of parties. These rules were so restrictive that only two parties were formed—the government party, the
National Renewal Alliance Party
The National Renewal Alliance (Portuguese: ''Aliança Renovadora Nacional'', ARENA) was a far-right political party that existed in Brazil between 1966 and 1979. It was the official party of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 ...
(Arena), and the
controlled opposition
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controlling ...
of the
Brazilian Democratic Movement
The Brazilian Democratic Movement ( pt, Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a " big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, ...
(MDB).
* Limitation of states' 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
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
, top-heavy management of the economy by the central government.
* Granting the president the right to issue decrees (''Decretos-Lei'') that would enter in force at the moment of their publication and be inscribed in the statute-book after 30 days in the absence of Congressional deliberation on them.
Amendments of 1969
In 1969, this already severely authoritarian document was widely amended by a
provisional military junta and made even more repressive. The 1969 Amendment is sometimes regarded as a seventh Constitution, because it almost completely rewrote the text of the 1967 document.
The new constitutional text brought some extra tools for the regime:
* Giving the president the right to declare a state of emergency and suspend constitutional freedoms.
* Broadened capital punishment.
*
Banishment
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
– with loss of citizenship – as punishment.
* Suspension of ''
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
''.
* Special military courts to try members of the military accused of crimes.
* Transfer of command of the
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
from each federal state to the Ministry of the Army.
* Restrictions on travel.
From 1979 onward, however, the constitution was gradually purged of its authoritarian character. This process accelerated with the return of civilian rule in 1985, culminating in the adoption of a new constitution in 1988.
Citizen Constitution (1988–present)
Background
The seventh and current Brazilian Constitution was
promulgated
Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect.
After a new law ...
on October 5, 1988 after a two-year process in which it was written from scratch by a Constitutional Congress elected in 1986.
The Constitution
It appears as a reaction to the period of
military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer.
The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
, seeking to guarantee all manner of rights and restricting the state's ability to limit freedom, to punish offenses and to regulate individual life. On the other hand, it did not provide clear rules for state reform and kept the economic regulation of the country intact.
Among the new constitutional guarantees are the errand of injunction and the ''habeas data'' (one's right to have access to any data about him kept by the Government). It also anticipated the existence of a Consumers' Defence Code (which was brought out in 1990), of Children's and Youth Code (1990) and of a new Civil Code (2002).
It was the first constitution to demand severe punishment for breaches of civil liberties and rights. Consequently, Brazil later approved a law making the propagation of prejudice against any minority or ethnic group an unbailable crime. This law provided legal redress against those who spread
hate speech
Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
(like
Neo-Nazis
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...
) or those who do not treat all citizens equally. This second aspect helped disabled people to have a reserved percentage of jobs in the public service (and soon in all large companies), and black people to seek reparation for prejudice in the courts.
Breaking with the authoritarian logic of the Constitution of 1967, it made unbailable crimes those of
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
and of actions directed against the democratic state and the constitutional order, thus creating constitutional devices to block ''coups d'état'' of any kind.
![Bernardo cabral 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Bernardo_cabral_2007.jpg)
Willing to create a truly democratic state, the Constitution has established many forms of direct popular participation besides regular voting, such as
plebiscite
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
,
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
and the possibility of ordinary citizens proposing new laws. Examples of these democratic mechanisms were the 1993 plebiscite concerning the form of government, where the
Presidential system
A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separati ...
was confirmed, and the
2005 referendum concerning the prohibition of the sale of firearms and ammunition.
The mention of God in the preamble of the Constitution (and later on the
Brazilian currency
The Brazilian currency has been renamed and redefined several times through its history. Since 1994, the official one is the Brazilian real (plural ''reais'', with symbol R$ and ISO code BRL.
Historical currencies
Note that the dates of vari ...
) was opposed by most leftists as incompatible with
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
because it does not recognize the rights of
polytheists
Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the b ...
(like the
Amerindians
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the Ame ...
) or atheists, but it has not been removed so far. The only State Constitution that does not refer to God is the one of
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
. The Supreme Federal Court has ruled that this omission of the protection of God was not
unconstitutional
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
since the preamble of the constitution is simply an indication of principles that serves as an introduction to the constitutional text and reflects the ideological conceptions of the legislator, falling within the scope of political ideology and not of the law. Therefore, the preamble which is not actually a part of the supreme law, has no judicial validity whatsoever and cannot impose obligations or create rights.
Amendments
Despite its advances concerning individual rights and freedoms and also in government control, the Constitutional text brought dispositions that resulted in severe difficulties concerning governmental efficiency. In the following years, especially from 1995 onwards, this meant it had to be amended many times to get rid of impractical, contradictory or unclear provisions (but also to accommodate the economic reforms conducted by the government, for which such amendments have been sometimes criticized ). As of August 2020, this Constitution has been amended 108 times.
References
External links
*
Original text of the 1988 Constitution in Portuguese, with all amendments.*
*
*
''Constitution of the United States of Brazil : together with the accompanying transitory provisions.''1946
{{Americas topic, Constitution of, title=Constitutions of countries in the Americas
Political history of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
Legal history of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...