The Question of Disarmament in the Brazilian House of Representatives: The Role of Parties, Ideology and Congressmen Background1,2

Abstract

In this article I evaluate the question of disarmament in Brazil. Specifically, I attempt to examine a parliamentarian's position with regard to the voting that authorized the referendum dealing with the prohibition of the sale of firearms and munitions in the country. I discovered that a vote in favor of the control of firearms can be mainly explained by a parliamentarian's ideological/party position, independent of the Executive branch's opinion. The vote can also be explained by a parliamentarian's individual characteristics, such as profession, educational background and the region of origin. The tendency to vote against firearms control tends to be more closely related to certain aspects such as: affiliation to right-wing parties, having a military background, coming from rural areas or states that border other South American countries, having a lower educational background, and being financed by the arms industry. Now parliamentarians that are affiliated with center or left wing parties and have a higher educational background tended to vote in favor of firearms control. Gender and religion were not important variables in explaining a parliamentarian's position with regard to the issue at hand.