The Advantage of Brazil in the Financial Position - Term Paper Example

?Political Parties Systems in Brazil and England Lecturer: Background history of Brazil Brazil is a multiparty federal republic and has two legislative houses; the Federal Senate (81) and Chamber of Deputies (513). On the other hand England is made of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The political and the administrative organization of Brazil consist of the federal government, states, federals, and the municipalities. The federal government is the one that controls the central government and it is divided into three independent branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Brazil consists of 27 federal units, 26 states, and one federal state (Levine 145-148). Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and accounts for one third of the world population. It has an area of 8511965 sq km covering nearly half of South America with its capital being Brasilia. It was named after the dye-wood found there. It borders every nation of the continent except Chile and Ecuador. Brazil is divided into plateaus in the south and the Amazon River basin to the north. According to Fausto (76) analyzed and found out that a study done on 2011 reported that Brazil has a population of 205,716,890 people. Brazil has its main cities as; Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Recife, and Porto Alegre. Brazil is the only Latin American country that derives its culture and language from Portugal. Brazil was one of the only three modern states in the Americas to have its own indigenous monarchy for a period of almost 90 years. (Meade 90-93). Portugal earnestly tried to re-impose colonial rule but Brazil was declared independent on 7th September 1822 by the prince thus becoming Pedro I the Emperor of Brazil (Viotti da Costa 52). The nation was ruled by a series of military dictatorships until a revolt that allowed for a gradual return to stability under the civilian presidents (Meade 132). In 1964 to 1984 the military governments strongly encouraged foreign so as to encourage economic growth. After the military coup in 1964, Brazil was ruled by the military again for several years. In 1985 the first civilian president Neves was elected since 1964 bringing a nationwide wave of optimism. Color became the president after winning the 1989 elections but he was impeached by the congress because of corruption scandal and later resigned (Viotti da Costa 112-113). According to Fausto (158-160) asserts that in January 1999 the Asian economic crisis spread to Brazil and the economy remained sluggish throughout to 2001. Dilma Rouseff was elected as president and assumed office in 1st January 2011 and is the sitting president up to date. Background history of England England is the most populous nation of the United Kingdom. It accounts for 84 percent of the combined total population. It has 54 million people and its inhabitants are English or British people. Some genetic evidence shows that the 75%-95% have descended in the paternal line from the prehistoric settlers who were originally from Iberian Peninsula. The spoken language is English. The most widely spread religion is Christianity and as per today 59% of the population identify Christianity (Raumer 67-68). The former capital of England was Winchester until it was replaced by London in 1066. Currently, London is the largest metropolitan area in the UK and also the largest urban zone in the European Union region. During the reign of Emperor Claudius, the Romans invaded Britain in AD 43 subsequently conquering much of Britain the area being incorporated into the Roman Empire as the Britannia (Eccleshare 265-270). The basic political system in England is a parliamentary system and a constitutional monarchy. Before the joining of Scotland and English to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, it was ruled by the monarch and the parliament of England. In the UK 2010 general elections the Conservative Party won the absolute majority in 532 contested seats, 61 more seats more than all the other parties combined. According to Eccleshare (45) argues that the English legal system that has been developed over the centuries is the basis of common law legal systems mostly used in the common wealth countries except the US. The court system is headed by the senior courts of Wales and England. Since the 2005 general election the government of the United Kingdom has been floating the idea of voluntary merging the local councils so as to avoid costly reorganization but attaining the desired form. Political parties systems in Brazil Both Brazil and England has two arms of parliament. Brazil has the Senate and the Chamber of Deputes while England has the House of Commons and House of Lords. Shortly after the independence of Brazil, the first political groups that emerged were either pro-Brazilian or pro-Portuguese factions. During the second empire period of 1831-1889, the Conservative and Liberal parties alternated in power. This was a similar case in England to the 1920s between the Liberals and Conservatives. During the Old Republic (1889-1930), sections of the Republican Party in the larger states held political power after they emerged also similar to England where the Liberal Democrats also held political power. Since independence Brazil has been oscillating between state autonomy and centralization. This makes Brazil a multi-party system as the effective number of parties is less than five but greater than two. In 1822-89 Brazil had a centralized constitutional monarchy and a little state autonomy. The emperor exercised the power of moderation by transferring and removing judicial and police officers at will, appointing senators for life, and presiding over a Council of State. Until the 1930, the larger and powerful states enjoyed great under a federal system. The national government centralized control over local government and states from 1930 to 1940 by appointing governors. The constitution of 1946 established a more balance in federalism but has maintained controls over financial, labor, political, and election policies. In 1965 the military regime started to curtail the autonomy of the states again. It later allowed in 1982 direct elections of the governors. Elected on a four year term the governors and their deputies had a cabinet and an executive branch in a way similar to the federal executive branch. Similar to the United Kingdom system, the assemblies of the state organized their processes of legislation like that of the congress. In1988 the state assemblies their autonomy over their salaries as the state governments were responsible for maintaining state highway systems, public infrastructure and transit police. Additionally, Brazil has the municipal governments. By October 1996, it had 5581 municipalities as the municipal taxing authority is majorly concerned with property and service taxes. They are headed by the mayors and vice mayors. From 1950 to 1970, the municipal elections coincided with the general and state elections. The local officials elected are given four year terms so as to coincide with the general elections. By 1960, the Congress had thirteen parties. Later in 1970s fifteen (15) political parties were represented in the Congress of Brazil while in England the House of Commons is represented by 10 parties. The larger political parties consist of: Workers Party (PT-center-left), Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB-center), Liberal Front Party (PFL-right), Progressive Party (PP-right), Brazilian Labor Party (PTB-center-right), Party (PL-center-right), Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB-center-left), Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB-left), Democratic Labor Party (PDT-left), Popular Socialist Party (PPS), and the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB). Due to the mix in the proportional voting, lack of threshold and the cultural aspects of the Latin American caudillismo-coronelismo, the Brazilian party politics tend to be highly fragmented making it difficult for the Federal government to pass legislations. The Brazilian politics is divided into internationalist liberals and the statist nationalists. According to Votti da Costa (8-9) reported that in 2010 approximately13.8 million Brazilians were affiliated to a political party. The largest political parties are PMDB having 16.6 percent of the affiliated voters, the Worker’s Party having 10 percent of the affiliated voters and PP having 9.8 percent of the affiliated voters. A combination of institutional regulations, the electoral laws and undemocratic governments have disrupted the growth and development of political parties in Brazil, a problem since the nation’s return to democracy in 1985. Croccit and Monique (488-489) found out that the liberal and conservative parties have been in existence in the 19th century but they belonged to a wealthy and ideologically similar oligarchy. Their roles were limited as a result of the royal government controlling Brazil until 1889. The political system went through changes when Getulio Vargas took over the government with the help of the military. He established two parties that were supporting his rule; the Social Democratic Party and the Brazilian Labor party. In the 1965 military government which had seized power in 1964 abolished all parties and replaced them with a single party of the government. The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party had leftist policies and campaigned for the democratization of Brazil (Crocitt and Monique 488-490). The first political parties in Brazil came up after the nation became independent. The Liberal Party and Conservative Party rotated power throughout the period of 1831-1889. Ultimately, the Republican Party commenced in 1870. In 1934-1935 there was short introduction of the representative politics. After the October 1965 elections, President Castelo Branco who was the head of the military at the time declared the end of multi-party system (Levine 59). As a result of this action, only two parties were allowed to operate; The National Renewal Alliance the single government party and the Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB) the lone opposition party. After the restoration of the civilian government in the late 80s, the Brazilian government again legalized all the political parties. In 1980, Brazil moved towards a democratic government allowing the abolished political parties to return, new parties to be shaped, and the current parties to also divide. In Brazil today, there are twenty seven (27) registered political parties. According to Julio (101) argues that despite of this, there are only four (4) dominant political parties: PT, PMDB, PSDB, and DEM. In order to be legally acknowledged, a political party has to register with the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (Higher Electoral Tribunal). Moreover, since there is no election threshold in Brazil, PSDB, PT, PMDB, and DEM collectively rule the majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate. Ever since democracy reentered the Brazilian politics in 1985, these four parties have successfully dominated the Brazilian politics. This is similar to England where the political scene has been dominated by the Liberals, Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats. The minor political parties tend to make alliances with either one of these four main parties (Julio 67-73). Political parties system in England Since the World War II, all the governments in the United Kingdom have been formed either on the Conservative Party or the Liberal Party. While Brazil has four major political parties, England has two major political parties which include the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. This makes the country to have a two party system where two major political systems dominate the elections and the government. Ultimately, a nation with a two party system becomes a dichotomous division of the political spectrum with ostensibly the left wing and the right wing party. The parties have been present since the early 1920s. With the advancement of time and many other factors, we currently have the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative party, and the Labour party. The Liberal Democrats have been described as third parties because they are the other party after the two dominant parties but are unlikely to exert any influence by winning elections or the legislature (Eccleshare 7-9) In the late 19th century there was formation of the Conservative party and the Liberal party. The Conservatives and the Liberal dominated the political landscape up until the 1920s when the Liberal Party commenced to decline popularity. It was later replaced y the Labour party which was a representation of the alliance between the organized trade unions, labour movement, and the various societal societies. Ever since, they have dominated the British political scene alternating between the governments. The recent electoral co-operation , the Liberal Party merged with Social Democratic Party in 1988 thus becoming Liberal Democrats which now typically the third largest party (Adams). Since 1945 six and eight general elections have won by the Labour Party and the Conservative Party respectively accounting for the majority in the House of Commons. According to Boothroyd (112-115) asserts that traditionally, the political parties have been deemed as private organizations and were not recognized by the government similar to Brazil. Unlike Brazil where membership of the political parties has been steadily growing, in England there has been a decline falling from 4 percent in 1985 to 1.3 percent in 2005. Therefore, there have the necessities to register the political parties as per the Registration of Political Act 1998. While Brazil has only 27 registered political parties, England has 419 registered political parties. The representation in the House of Commons include: the major political parties include the Conservative and Unionist Party at the center-right (306 seats); the Labour Party center-left (258 seats); the Liberal Democrats (57 seats). The minor political parties comprise of the following: the English Democrats Party, the Independence Party, the Pensioners’ Party, the Free England Party, the England First Party, the Green Party, Boston Bypass Independents, Community ( London Borough of Hounslow), Additionally, the presence of electoral coalitions is present in England and absent in Brazil. In England they were formed in 2010 general elections by the trade unionists and political parties that had been left (LLC Books 379-382). However, Britain is a classic multiparty state in which few parties have any political significance as a result of the electoral system we have of the “firs- past-post-the post” in an election. While Brazil has 15 political parties in the senate and the chambers of deputies and 27 registered with the majority seats dominated by the 4 main political parties, England has numerous parties with ten parties being represented in the House of Commons of the UK. Moreover, a further two are to be present in the European Parliament (LLC Books 453-457). There are four legislative bodies in the UK alongside the European parliament and include; the House of Commons located in London responsible upholding and creation of new laws. The House of Lords is made up of Ladies and Lords who are incredibly rich. The Scottish Parliament, London Assembly, National Assembly of Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly are other legislative organs. With regard of the UK party system in England, its parliament has the opposition parties which either contribute to the creation of policy and legislation, opposing to proposals they agree with, and putting forward their own policies so as to increase their chances of winning the next election. Leaders of the opposition and Government sit on the front benches on the both sides of the Commons chamber with their supporters. The financial assistance to parties is from the public funds that aid the opposition parties to carry out their parliamentary work at Westminster. It is limited only to parties which have at least one member elected or two members elected at the previous general election and a minimum of 150,000 votes cast. The amount is usually ?3,442.50 for every seat won and ?6.89 for every 200 votes. The MPs of the same party sit together in the House of Commons Chamber. The Members of the Lords have the same sitting arrangement as it is in the House of Commons. With England being a two party state, it has the advantage of promoting centrism and also encouraging the political parties to establish common positions which are appealing to the swaths of the electorate. Additionally, it leads to political stability which in turn lead to economic growth as they are also easy to govern unlike the multiparty system in Brazil. Conversely, the two party system has been criticized for putting a dumper on debates within a nation and also it down plays alternate views. Outside the Parliament, party control is only exercised by the national and the local organizations. Parties are typically organized at the parliamentary constituency level and also contest at the local government elections. Inside Parliament, party control is only exercised by the Chief Whips and their respective assistants who are chosen within the parties (Raumer 109). Their duties include; maintaining the voting strength of the party by ensuring members attend important debates, keeping the members informed of the forthcoming parliamentary business, and finally passing on to the party leadership the opinions of the backbench members. Works Cited Adams, George Burton. History of England. Teddington: Echo Library, 2006. Boothroyd, David. Politico's guide to the History of British Political Parties. London: Politicos, 2001. Crocitt, John J. and Monique M. Vallance. Brazil Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic, Volume 1. Santa Barbara, Carlifornia: ABC-CLIO, 2011. Eccleshare. United Kingdom Parliament. London: Woodlands Kent, 2002. Fausto, Boris. A Concise History of Brazil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. Julio, Frank Rua. 3 January 2013. Political Parties in Brazil. 2 April 2013 . Levine, Robert M. The History of Brazil. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. LLCBooks. Political Parties in the United Kingdom:. London: General Books, 2010. Meade, Teresa. A Brief History of Brazil. New York: Facts on File, 2010. Raumer, Friedrich Von. The Political History of England. London: Biblio Life, 2010. ViottidaCosta, Emilia. The Brazilian Empire: Myth and Hitories. Chicag and London: University of Chicago Press, 1990. Read More