HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Historically, the political post of Prime Minister, officially called President of the Council of Ministers ( pt, Primeiro-ministro, Presidente do Conselho de Ministros), existed in
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 ...
in two different periods: from 1847 to 1889 (during the
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
) and from 1961 to 1963 (under the Fourth Republic). The
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 ...
was first introduced in the country in 1847 by Emperor Pedro II and maintained until the abolition of the monarchy in 1889. The system was briefly restored during the tenure of President
João Goulart João Belchior Marques Goulart (1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 24th president of Brazil until a military coup d'état deposed him on 1 April 1964. He was considered the ...
between 1961 and 1963, after a constitutional amendment approved by his opponents before the beginning of his term created the post; it was abolished with a plebiscite. Below are more detailed descriptions of the post in each period.


Presidents of the Council of Ministers of the Empire of Brazil (1847–1889)

The political position of Prime Minister of Brazil was first created in 1847 by the Brazilian Emperor Pedro II officially as President of the Council of Ministers, but he was referred to by the press and the people as ''President of the Cabinet''. Often, the title ''President of the Council'', a shortened version of the official style, was also employed. The 1824 Brazilian Constitution did not require the Emperor to appoint a prime minister; nor did it provide for a parliamentary system of government, instead vesting the Executive authority in the Emperor himself, and stipulating that the Emperor was to be aided by ministers that he was free to appoint and dismiss. However, Emperor Pedro II decided to appoint a president of the Council among his ministers, to lead the workings of the Government. He also chose to create a sort of parliamentary government, whereby the prime minister would be someone who could command a majority in the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
, the lower House of the Brazilian Imperial Parliament, known as General Assembly. Therefore, even without being required by the Constitution, the Emperor started to exercise his authority in a manner compatible with parliamentary government, only appointing as prime minister someone who could retain parliamentary support, etc. However, the emperor was not a figurehead monarch like other heads of State in a parliamentary system. The prime minister needed to retain the political confidence both of a majority of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Emperor, who actively scrutinized the workings of the Government. Sometimes the Emperor would dissolve the Chamber of Deputies and summon new elections (a power he possessed under the Constitution), or dismiss the prime minister, due to his own political beliefs about the efficiency of the Government. Thus, the Emperor would often dismiss a prime minister, and then appoint someone else from the same party. All this led to a succession of short-lived Cabinets. The emperor retained decision-making powers with regard to the signature or veto of bills passed by Parliament, and would not always abide by the advice of his ministers. And that was seen as normal given that the monarch wasn't required by the Constitution to reign in a parliamentary system, and the establishment of one was only a limited and voluntary decision of Pedro II. Therefore, the
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 ...
voluntarily established by Emperor Pedro II wasn't identical to the standard of a parliamentary government with a Head of State that reigns but does not govern, given that the Emperor retained part of the control over the daily affairs of his government. Thus, the parliamentary system that was put in place in the reign of Pedro II can be termed a semi-parliamentary Government, and can be compared to the political system of some republics, such as France, that are governed under a
semi-presidential system A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...
, in which the Head of State has more than just the customary reserve powers, but there is also a prime minister who needs to maintain the confidence of Parliament in order to retain his office. This co-existence of a
Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
with real powers and influence with a prime minister responsible before Parliament was dubbed by many Brazilian political scientists as ''parlamentarismo às avessas'' (backwards parliamentarism), a criticism corresponding to their view that, in the parliamentary system created by Emperor Pedro II, the Chamber of Deputies was the weaker party, and the survival of the Cabinet depended more on the confidence of the Emperor than in that of Parliament. Shortcomings in party loyalty, with members of Parliament and groups of members rooting for their own interests and not always abiding by the directives of the party leadership also contributed greatly to short-lived Cabinets. Indeed, it was very common for a Prime Minister to be replaced due to lack of support from his party's backbenchers, causing the Prime Minister to be replaced with somebody else from the same party, during the same Parliament. During the forty-nine years of Pedro II's personal reign, from 1840 until 1889 there were sixteen parliamentary elections (eleven provoked by the dissolution of Parliament by the Emperor at the Prime Minister's request, with the summoning of new elections, and five others provoked by the expiration of the term of office of the members of the Chamber of Deputies). This means that, on average, each legislature of the Chamber of Deputies had a life span slightly superior to three years. However, in the forty two years between the creation of the office of Prime Minister in 1847 and its abolition in 1889, there were thirty two appointments to the presidency of the council, which means that prime ministerships lasted on average a little more than a year and four months. Certain politicians, however, like the
Duke of Caxias Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
,
Marquis of Olinda A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...
, and
Zacarias de Góis e Vasconcelos Zacarias de Góis e Vasconcelos (5 November 1815, in Valença, Bahia – 29 December 1877, in Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's thi ...
managed to regain the prime ministership after having lost it. Caxias and Zacarias Góis e Vasconcellos each served three times as President of the council, while Olinda held the office of Prime Minister for a record of four times. The president of the Council owed his position to both his party's majority in the Legislature (and to his party's willingness to support him in the Chamber) and to the Emperor, and these two sources of authority (parliamentary backing and imperial appointment) could sometimes come into conflict. 19th century abolitionist leader and historian Joaquim Nabuco said: The shortest prime-ministership was the first of the three periods of Zacarias Góis e Vasconcellos in office, when he occupied the presidency of the council for just a few days in May 1862 before being replaced. The longest continuous prime-ministership corresponded to the period when the Viscount of Rio Branco was in office: he served as President of the council from March 1871 until June 1875. The Viscount of Rio Branco served as Prime Minister only once, however, and his period of service as Prime Minister is surpassed by the total duration of the four non-consecutive premierships of the Marquis of Olinda, making Olinda the longest serving President of the Council if non-consecutive time is considered. The position of prime minister was abolished with the deposition of the Monarchy in 1889.


List of presidents of the Council of Ministers of the Empire of Brazil

; Parties


The proclamation of the Republic as a coup to remove the Council of Ministers and its President

The events of the proclamation of the Republic on 15 November 1889 started as an unprecedented military coup to remove the
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
Prime Minister
Viscount of Ouro Preto Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, the Viscount of Ouro Preto (2 February 1836 – 21 February 1912) was a Brazilian politician, and the last Prime Minister of the Empire of Brazil. Biography Personal life Afonso Celso was born in Ouro Preto, ...
, who had been appointed by the Emperor and who enjoyed the confidence of the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
. Marshal
Deodoro da Fonseca Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca (; 5 August 1827 – 23 August 1892) was a Brazilian politician and military officer who served as the first president of Brazil. He was born in Alagoas in a military family, followed a military career, and became a n ...
, the senior leader and military figure in the plot, was supportive of the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
and took part in the coup upon invitation by other officers who wanted to overthrow the Liberal Prime Minister. Initially, Deodoro intended to force a Cabinet change, but not to depose Emperor Pedro II. Several of his co-conspirators, however, were republicans, and later in the day the events of the military coup progressed to the abolition of the monarchy. The decision to establish a republican
provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...
was taken when Deodoro (who had already proclaimed "Long Live His Majesty the Emperor" during the public acts of the coup) received, from his republican co-conspirator Benjamin Constant Botelho de Magalhães, the false news that the Emperor intended to appoint Gaspar da Silveira Martins, a declared enemy of Deodoro, as the next Prime Minister. After the republic was proclaimed, a presidential executive replaced the
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 ...
of government.


Presidents of the Council of Ministers of the United States of Brazil (1961–1963)

After the coup d'état that abolished the monarchy and proclaimed Brazil a republic, the system of parliamentary government was not retained. The new republic instead adopted the model of a presidential executive, except for a brief period (September 7, 1961 to January 23, 1963) during the presidency of
João Goulart João Belchior Marques Goulart (1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 24th president of Brazil until a military coup d'état deposed him on 1 April 1964. He was considered the ...
. The parliamentary system was adopted in 1961 as a compromise solution to a grave political crisis, and was again abolished, this time by
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 ...
, in January 1963. The official title of the head of the government during that period was Presidente do Conselho de Ministros (''President of the Council of Ministers''), the same official title possessed by the 19th-century prime ministers of the Brazilian Empire. However, the holders of the office were informally addressed and referred to as ''Premier'' or ''Prime Minister''. Often, the expression ''President of the Council'', a simplified version of the official title, was also used.


List of presidents of the Council of Ministers of the United States of Brazil

; Parties


Timeline

ImageSize = width:700 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1847 till:1910 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:3 start:1847 Colors = id:libe value:rgb(1,0.8,0.16) legend:Liberal id:cons value:rgb(0,0.66,0.34) legend:Conservative id:prog value:rgb(0.24,0.25,0.58) legend:Progressive Legend = columns:3 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:100 TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:" BarData = bar:Caravelas bar:Macae bar:SousaeMelo bar:Olinda bar:MonteAlegre bar:Itaborai bar:Parana bar:Caxias bar:Abaete bar:Uruguaiana bar:Gois bar:Furtado bar:SaoVicente bar:RioBranco bar:Sinimbu bar:Saraiva bar:SilvaCampos bar:Paranagua bar:Pereira bar:Dantas bar:Cotegipe bar:Oliveira bar:OuroPreto PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:Caravelas from: 1847 till: 1848 color:libe text:" Manuel Alves Branco" bar:Macae from: 1848 till: 1848 color:libe text:"
José Carlos Pereira de Almeida Torres (Viscount of Macaé) José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
" bar:SousaeMelo from: 1848 till: 1848 color:libe text:"
Francisco de Paula Sousa e Melo Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...
" bar:Olinda from: 1848 till: 1849 color:cons from: 1857 till: 1858 color:cons from: 1862 till: 1864 color:prog from: 1865 till: 1866 color:libe text:" Pedro de Araújo Lima (Viscount, later Marquis of Olinda)" bar:MonteAlegre from: 1849 till: 1852 color:cons text:"
José da Costa Carvalho (viscount of Monte Alegre) José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...
" bar:Itaborai from: 1852 till: 1853 color:cons text:" from: 1868 till: 1870 color:cons text:" Joaquim José Rodrigues Torres (later Viscount of Itaboraí)" bar:Parana from: 1853 till: 1856 color:cons text:" Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão (Marquis of Paraná)" bar:Caxias from: 1856 till: 1857 color:cons from: 1861 till: 1862 color:cons from: 1875 till: 1878 color:cons text:" Luís Alves de Lima e Silva (Marquis, later Duke of Caxias)" bar:Abaete from: 1858 till: 1859 color:cons text:"
Antônio Paulino Limpo de Abreu (Viscount of Abaeté) Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...
" bar:Uruguaiana from: 1859 till: 1861 color:cons text:" Ângelo Moniz da Silva Ferraz (Baron of Uruguaiana)" bar:Gois from: 1862 till: 1862 color:prog from: 1864 till: 1864 color:prog from: 1866 till: 1868 color:libe text:"
Zacarias de Góis Zechariah most often refers to: * Zechariah (Hebrew prophet), author of the Book of Zechariah * Zechariah (New Testament figure), father of John the Baptist Zechariah or its many variant forms and spellings may also refer to: People *Zechariah ...
" bar:Furtado from: 1864 till: 1865 color:libe text:"
Francisco José Furtado Francisco José Furtado (13 August 1818 in Oeiras, Piauí – 23 June 1870, in Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian politician. He was prime minister of the Empire of Brazil, and a member of its senate. Biography After graduating from the Academy of ...
" bar:SaoVicente from: 1870 till: 1871 color:cons text:"
José Antônio Pimenta Bueno (Viscount of São Vicente) José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...
" bar:RioBranco from: 1871 till: 1875 color:cons text:" José Maria da Silva Paranhos (Viscount of Rio Branco)" bar:Sinimbu from: 1878 till: 1880 color:libe text:" João Lins Vieira Cansanção de Sinimbu" bar:Saraiva from: 1880 till: 1882 color:libe from: 1885 till: 1885 color:libe text:"
José Antônio Saraiva José Antônio Saraiva (1 May 1823 – 21 July 1895), also known as Counsellor Saraiva, was a Brazilian politician, diplomat and lawyer during the period of the Empire of Brazil (1822–1889). He held the position of President of the Counc ...
" bar:SilvaCampos from: 1882 till: 1882 color:libe text:"
Martinho Álvares da Silva Campos Martinho Álvares da Silva Campos (22 November 1816 - 29 March 1887) was a Brazilian physician, senator and adviser of the Empire of Brazil. Son of Martinho Álvares da Silva and Isabel Jacinta de Oliveira Campos He graduated in medicine on Dece ...
" bar:Paranagua from: 1882 till: 1883 color:libe text:"
João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá (Viscount of Paranaguá) João is the Portuguese language, Portuguese equivalent of the given name John (given name), John. The diminutive is Joãozinho (disambiguation), Joãozinho and the Feminine (grammar), feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking c ...
" bar:Pereira from: 1883 till: 1884 color:libe text:" Lafayette Rodrigues Pereira" bar:Dantas from: 1884 till: 1885 color:libe text:" Manuel Pinto de Sousa Dantas" bar:Cotegipe from: 1885 till: 1888 color:cons text:" João Maurício Wanderley (Baron of Cotejipe)" bar:Oliveira from: 1888 till: 1889 color:cons text:"
João Alfredo Correia de Oliveira João Alfredo Correa de Oliveira (12 December 1835, in Ilha de Itamaracá – 6 March 1919, in Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian politician, abolitionist and monarchist. Integrated in the Conservative Party was linked to the formulation of the Law ...
" bar:OuroPreto from: 1889 till: 1889 color:libe text:" Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo (Viscount of Ouro Preto)"
ImageSize = width:700 height:auto barincrement:24 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1961 till:1964 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1961 Colors = id:psd value:blue legend:PSD id:ptb value:red legend:PTB Legend = columns:2 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:100 TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:" BarData = bar:Tancredo bar:Brochado bar:Hermes PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:Tancredo from:08/09/1961 till:12/07/1962 color:psd text:"
Tancredo Neves Tancredo de Almeida Neves () (4 March 1910 – 21 April 1985) was a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and entrepreneur. He served as Minister of Justice and Interior Affairs from 1953 to 1954, Prime Minister from 1961 to 1962, Minister of Financ ...
" bar:Brochado from:12/07/1962 till:18/09/1962 color:psd text:" Brochado da Rocha" bar:Hermes from:18/09/1962 till:23/01/1963 color:ptb text:"
Hermes Lima Hermes Lima (), (22 December 1902 – 10 October 1978) was Brazilian politician who was the Prime Minister of Brazil, jurist, and winner of the 1975 Prêmio Machado de Assis. Political career He originally became an elected federal deputy of t ...
"


See also

*
List of Brazilian monarchs The monarchs of Brazil ( Portuguese: ''monarcas do Brasil'') were the imperial heads of state and hereditary rulers of Brazil from the House of Braganza that reigned from the creation of the Brazilian monarchy in 1815 as a constituent kingdom o ...
*
List of governors-general of Brazil This is a list of governors-general of colonial Brazil (Portuguese: governadores-gerais). The office was created by D. João III in 1549. From 1640 onward, some governors-general held the title of viceroy (Portuguese: vice-rei). The office was th ...
*
List of presidents of Brazil The president of the Federative Republic of Brazil is the chief executive of the government of Brazil and commander in chief of the national military forces. Below is a list of presidents of Brazil. Brazil before the Proclamation of the Republi ...
*
President of Brazil The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prime Minister of Brazil, * Prime Ministers of Brazil Political history of Brazil Empire of Brazil politicians 1847 establishments in Brazil 1889 disestablishments in Brazil 1961 establishments in Brazil 1963 disestablishments in Brazil