Brazilian politics: Systems and Forms of Government

• The debate surrounding systems and forms of government is ongoing in Brazilian politics.
• Some Brazilians have suggested abandoning the republic and the presidential system in favor of parliamentarism and/or monarchy.

Purpose of the Text

• To explain contemporary systems and forms of governments
• To clarify the differences between parliamentarism, presidentialism, and semi-presidentialism
• To provide historical insights into these systems
• To examine how these systems have functioned, currently function, or could function in Brazil
• To provide information on the most significant forms of government: monarchy and republic

What are Systems and Forms of Government?

• Systems and forms of government are related to different aspects of a political system.

Systems of Government

• A system of government describes how a country's political power is divided and exercised.
• Systems vary according to the relationship and distribution of functions between the Executive and Legislative branches.
• In some countries, the Executive branch is entirely dependent on the Legislative branch.
• Examples of systems of government include parliamentarism, presidentialism, and semi-presidentialism.

Forms of Government

• Forms of government relate to the source of power for a country's rulers.
• Currently, the two most common forms of government are monarchy and republic.
• In a monarchy, the head of state is a monarch who holds the position for life.
• In a republic, power theoretically comes from the people.

Global Examples

• United Kingdom is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy.
• Germany is a parliamentary republic.
• Brazil is a presidential republic.
• France is a semi-presidential republic.
• Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with no parliament.
• Despite categorizations, each country has its own political history, resulting in distinct forms of governance.
• Countries within the same system and form of government can still have differences.

Monarchy and Republic Forms of Government

• System relates to how political power is divided and exercised within the State, mainly between the Executive and Legislative powers.
• Form relates to the relationship between rulers and the ruled.
• The classic forms of government are monarchy and republic.

Monarchy

• The head of state is a monarch (king/queen, emperor/empress, etc.).
• The position of king is hereditary, passing down through generations of the same family.
• The appointment is permanent, meaning the king holds the title until death.
• In the past, monarchs often had absolute power, leading to absolutist monarchies.
• The king's importance was such that it was synonymous with the State.
• These regimes often lacked a constitution, as it could limit the monarch's power.
• Today, monarchs with absolute powers are rare.
• Surviving monarchies are typically constitutional, where the king no longer controls all political power.
• The king often remains as head of State with reduced political power, symbolizing national unity.
• Constitutional monarchies are usually parliamentarist, with governmental functions transferred to a prime minister in conjunction with a cabinet, the representatives are chosen by the parliament.
• Despite limited political power, monarchs in this system still enjoy the tradition of hereditary succession to the position.
• there are approximately 40 monarchies remaining worldwide, and approximately half of those belong to the Commonwealth.
• Many countries within the Commonwealth still recognize the British queen as their head of state.
• The Queen Elizabeth II, sovereign of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth for over 60 years, illustrates how modern kings generally have very symbolic functions.
• As head of State, Elizabeth II follows recommendations from the prime minister and the House of Commons.
• She officially appoints the prime minister, but this nomination is always indicated by the parliament.
• She officially dissolves the parliament for new elections but only on the recommendation of the House of Commons.
• Some absolute monarchies still exist, such as Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Oman, and Swaziland.
• In these regimes, the king or emperor still holds significant power.
• Saudi Arabia lacks a constitution and parliament, while Brunei and Oman have a constitution but no parliament elected by the people.
• Swaziland has a constitution and a partially elected parliament that can only debate and endorse the king's proposals.

Republic

• Republic functions without a king, a role succeeded by a directly-elected president.
• The president is typically both the head of State and head of government.
• They serve a designated term and do not transfer the position to family or inner circles.
• Republics have a clearer separation of power: the Executive and Legislative branches.
• These roles are held by the president and group of representatives (senators or representatives of the lower house).
• Presidents must act on government plans, while new law-making is up to the Legislative branch.
• There are ancient examples of republics like in Greece and Rome.
• Modern Republics emerged on a smaller scale in the 18th century through thinkers like Voltaire, Rousseau, and Montesquieu, and through the American and French revolutions.

How Brazil transitioned from Monarchy to Republic

• Brazil had a period of monarchy from its independence in 1822 until the proclamation of the republic in 1889.
• Monarchy is defined by a head of State whose position is life-long and hereditary, who can be either the country's supreme leader or a symbolic head of state.
• A republic rejects the figure of a king, and its will and leader is chosen via the people. This leader is usually also the head of government whose appointed time will end and their position is open to re-election.
• Brazil had a long monarchy, for almost 70 years beginning in 1822, without considering the colonial period where it was subject to the Portuguese monarchy.
• The declaration of independence in 1822 was led by Dom Pedro I, who became the first Brazilian monarch, which coincided with his heritage as the Portuguese heir.
• In 1826 he briefly held both cargos of emperor of Brazil and Portugal, but he resigned from the Portuguese throne in favor of his daughter, Maria II.
• Pedro I abdicated the throne amid internal disapproval in 1831, nine years after becoming the first Brazilian emperor
• The throne was given to his five-year-old son, who later officially took the cargo as Dom Pedro II.
• Pedro II spent most of his life as Emperor of Brazil until a political-military revolt declared the end of their kingdom (1889).
• Several important parts of society gave the monarchy many problems which made the revolt achievable.
• Brazil lost support from the Catholic Church and large plantation workers because slavery was abolished on their plantations in 1888 without any pay to the former companies working on Slave Labour.
• Other groups criticised the abolishment of slavery as “too late” which damaged Dom Pedro II’s credibility. and weakened trust in him.
• Brazil’s military were not satisfied with Dom Pedro II because they were forbidden from expressing themselves in the press without permission
• In 1870 many military groups connected with republican and positivist notions.
• November 15, 1889, Marshall Deodoro da Fonseca led a troop walk in Rio de Janiero ending with the overthrow of Dom Pedro II.
• The president of the Brazilian republic- Marshall Deodoro da Fonseca- was actually a monarchist (self-admitted through his sent letters).
• He was supposedly going to destitue Dom Pedro II due to personal motives, because he nominated someone to become first-minister who Deodoro loathed.
• The republican movement destitued all former government ministers.
• José do Patrocínio ratified the overthrow of leadership by writing the proclamation of the Brazilian republic.
• The emperor at the time, stated he would not put up any resistance and exiled himself to Europe.