The differences between presidentialism and parliamentarism in perspective: the problem of majority support in Brazil.

Abstract

This paper aims to identify gray areas in the differences between Presidentialism and Parliamentarism concerning the balance of powers. For this analysis, the text initially focuses on the theoretical approaches that enable to figure out this proximity of models. The second section compares two paradigmatic cases: Collor (1992) and Rousseff (2016). The argument of the similarity in the majority problem with respect to both systems will be developed focusing on the Brazilian case. The reason for this emphasis is that, although Presidentialism is said to be a non-politically accountable system, in Brazil the impeachment mechanism is also a type of political judgment. By the perspective of loss of majority in Congress, the paper argues that no significant difference occurs between Presidentialism and Parliamentarism regarding the need for majority in government and that the legislature is still a key issue to reflect on the balance of powers, especially in Brazil.