The Brazilian Electoral System

Abstract

The article by Jairo Nicolau and Julia Stadler presents the electoral system which is closely associated with how the executive and the legislative powers operate. The Brazilian system of open list proportional representation has often been characterized as a major political and institutional barrier and accordingly stood in the center of the frequently discussed extensive political reform (reforma politica). The article is an introduction to the complexity of the Brazilian electoral system and explains its most important rules, system components and the main reform approaches since the 1988 Constitution. According to the authors, the debate about the need for a comprehensive reform is as old as the system itself and is demanded by representatives across the entire political spectrum. Neither Cardoso nor Lula or Rousseff tackled the reform. Nonetheless, the authors conclude that the absence of this reform should not be understood as an inability to reform.