The current Brazilian government

To better understand Brazils politics, there will be firstly an introduction to the construction of the political system. Secondly, we will focus on the current actors.



Concerning Brazils political construction, there are 27 federal units leaded by a governor, elected in the respective unit. The President is not only the head of state but also the head of government and of a multi-party system and exerces, with advices from a cabinet, the executive power. The legislative power is held by the National Congress, whereas the judicial power is exercised by the different courts depending the federal level. These levels are also important for administrative organization and is composed of three stages: the federal government, the federal district and the municipalities.











In 2002, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was beat by Cardoso for the president election, was elected president thanks to the unpopularity of Cardoso because of economic inequality. Even if he wasinvolved in some big corruption scandals he regained his popularity in 2006. In 2010 Dilma Rousseff, his handpicked successor, was elected to be the new president of Brazil and beat the candidate of theBrazilian Social Democratic Party, José Serra Member of the Workers’ Party and fighting against the military dictatorship, she is the first woman to hold the office as president, which is always four year commitment.

Regarding the global position of Brazil in politics, Brazil is a member of the most important international groupings, more precisely the G20 but also the G7, the BRICS that note a rapid economic growth, the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa), the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) that discuss about environmental themes and finally also the G4, which means a permanent membership in the UN Security Council. Besides, it Brazil also represents one of the countries of the Mercosur, which is a grouping that has an economic and political agreement that can be compared to the ASEAN or the European Union.

Camille J.

Sources:
http://www.brazil-factoid.com/an-insight-into-the-politics-of-brazil.html
http://www.brazil.org.nz/page/political-institutions.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Brazil
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/brazil/brazil_brief.html
http://www.photius.com/countries/brazil/government/
brazil_government_structure_of_governm~236.html
http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/brazil/brazil_brief.html


Photo credits:
1. http://www.sdrcs.com.br/ing/fotos/mapa_do_brasil.jpg
2. http://www.correiodeuberlandia.com.br/cidade-e-regiao/dilma-rousseff-tem-73-de-aprovacao/