Brazil has a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...

since 1979, when the country's military dictatorship disbanded an enforced

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...

and allowed the creation of multiple parties. Above the broad range of political parties in

Brazilian Congress The National Congress of Brazil ( pt, Congresso Nacional do Brasil) is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government. Unlike the state legislative assemblies and municipal chambers, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Sena ...

, the Workers' Party (PT), 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),

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(PL), the

Progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techno ...

(PP) and the

Brazil Union The Brazil Union () is a liberal-conservative political party in Brazil. The party was founded on 6 October 2021 from a merger between the Democrats (DEM) and the Social Liberal Party (PSL). The merger resulted in the biggest party in Brazil, a ...

(UNIÃO) together control the

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

of seats in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Smaller parties often make alliances with at least one of these five major parties. The number of political parties reached 35 on its apex on 2018. However, an

Electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

system introduced on 2017 has resulted in the culling and merger of many parties, as the threshold cuts access to party subsidies and the free party political broadcasts. Brazilian parties have access to party subsidies in form of the ''Fundo Partidário'' () and the ''Fundo Eleitoral'' () for elections.Fundo Partidário (estudo)
. Por Miriam Campelo de Melo Amorim. Brasília: Biblioteca Digital da Câmara dos Deputados, outubro de 2005. And a system of free party political broadcasts during election time known as the ''horário eleitoral gratuito''. Since 1982 Brazilian political parties have been given an electoral number to make it easier for illiterate people to vote. Initially, it was a one-digit number: 1 for

PDS PD, P.D., or Pd may refer to: Arts and media * ''People's Democracy'' (newspaper), weekly organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) * ''The Plain Dealer'', a Cleveland, Ohio, US newspaper * Post Diaspora, a time frame in the ''Honorverse'' ...

, 2 for PDT, 3 for PT, 4 for PTB, and 5 for PMDB. When it became clear that there was going to be more than nine parties, two-digit numbers were assigned, with the first five parties having a "1" added to their former one-digit number (PDS becoming number 11, PDT 12, PT 13, PTB 14, and PMDB 15). They also have official abbreviations. Political parties often change their names but can retain their number.

Current parties

Non-registered parties

Waiting for registration in the

Superior Electoral Court The Superior Electoral Court ( pt-BR, Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, TSE) is the highest body of the Brazilian Electoral Justice, which also comprises one Regional Electoral Court ( pt-BR, Tribunal Regional Eleitoral, TRE) in each of the 26 states ...

Former and historical parties

Merged parties of New Republic (since 1979)

Other former parties of New Republic (since 1979)

Military dictatorship (1965–1979)

Fourth Republic (1945–1965)

Old Republic and Second Republic (1891–1937)

Empire (before 1891)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Political Parties In 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 ...

Political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...