Brazilian Senate

The Federal Senate (Portuguese: Senado Federal) is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. When created within the Brazilian Empire in 1824, it was based on the British House of Lords, but since the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 the Federal Senate has resembled the United States Senate. In its current form the Senate has 81 seats, three each for the Federal District and the 26 states. Senators sit for eight years, and elections are staggered so that either a third or two-thirds are up for election every four years.

This article is about the senate of Brazil. For other uses, see Senate (disambiguation).
Federal senate

Senado Federal
56th Legislature of the National Congress
Type
Type
Term limits
None
History
FoundedMay 6, 1826 (1826-05-06)
New session started
February 1, 2020 (2020-02-01)
Leadership
Davi Alcolumbre, DEM
since 2 February 2019
Government Leader
Majority Leader
Minority Leader
Structure
Seats81
Political groups
Government (25)[1]

Independent (36)[1]

  •      MDB (13)
  •      PODE (10)
  •      PSDB (7)
  •      DEM (6)

Opposition (20)[1]

  •      PT (6)
  •      PDT (3)
  •      REDE (3)
  •      PROS (3)
  •      CDN (3)
  •      PSB (2)
Length of term
8 years
Elections
Plurality voting, alternating every four years between single-member elections (FPTP) and dual-member elections (block voting)
Last election
October 7, 2018
Next election
October 2, 2022
Meeting place
Senate plenary chamber
National Congress building
Brasília, Federal District, Brazil
Website
http://www.senado.gov.br
Brazil
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The current president of the Brazilian Senate is Davi Alcolumbre, from the Democrats of Amapá. He was elected in early 2019 for a two-year term.

Structure

The Senate has 81 members, serving an eight-year term of office. There are three Senators from each of the country's 27 federative units, the Federal District and the 26 states. Elections are staggered so that either a third or two-thirds of Senators are up for election every four years. The most recent election took place in 2018, where two-thirds of the Senate was elected.

Elections are held under the first-past-the-post and block voting systems. In years when a third of members are up for election, voters can cast only one vote and the candidate who receives a plurality of votes within their state is elected. In years when two-thirds of members are up for election, voters can cast two votes. People can not vote for the same candidate twice, but each party can field up to two candidates in each state. The two highest-placed candidates in each state are elected.

History

The Federal Senate of Brazil was established as the Senate of the Empire by the Constitution of 1824, first enacted after the Declaration of Independence. It was modelled on the British House of Lords.[2]

Following independence, in 1822, Emperor Pedro I ordered the convocation of a National Assembly to draft the country's first Constitution. Following several disagreements with the elected deputies (which included representatives from present-day Uruguay, then part of the Brazilian Empire under the name of Província Cisplatina), the Emperor dissolved the Assembly. In 1824, Pedro I implemented the first Constitution which established a Legislative branch with the Chamber of Deputies as the lower house, and the Senate as an upper house.

The first configuration of the Senate was a consulting body to the Emperor. Membership was for life and it was a place of great prestige, to which only a small part of the population could aspire. The original Senate had 50 members, representing all of the Empire's provinces, each with a number of senators proportional to its population.

Members of the Senate were elected, but they had to be at least 40 years old and have an annual income of 800,000 contos-de-réis, which limited candidates to wealthy citizens. Voters also faced an income qualification. Voting in an election for the Senate was limited to male citizens with an annual income of at least 200,000 contos-de-réis. Those who qualified for this did not vote directly for Senators; instead, they voted for candidates to be Senate electors. To be a Senate elector required an annual income of 400,000 contos-de-réis. Once elected, these electors would then vote for senator. The election itself would not result in a winner automatically. The three candidates receiving the most votes would make up what was called a "triple list", from which the Emperor would select one individual that would be considered "elected". The Emperor usually chose the candidate with the most votes, but it was within his discretion to select whichever of the three individuals listed. The unelected Princes of the Brazilian Imperial House were senators by right and would assume their seats in the Senate upon reaching age 25.

Following the adoption of the 1824 Constitution the first session of the Senate took place in May 1826. The Emperor had repeatedly delayed calling the first election, which had led to accusations that he would attempt to establish an absolutist government.

The Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 ended the Brazilian Empire in favor of the First Republic. The 1891 Constitution was then adopted, transforming Brazil's provinces into states and the Senate into an elected body. This was retained under later constitutions, including the current 1988 Constitution. Now known as the Federal Senate, it resembles the United States Senate in that each state has the same number of Senators.

Director Board

The current composition of the Board of the Federal Senate is as follows:

Office Name Party State
President Davi Alcolumbre DEM Amapá
1st Vice-President Antônio Anastasia PSDB Minas Gerais
2nd Vice-President Lasier Martins PODE Rio Grande do Sul
1st Secretary Sérgio Petecão PSD Acre
2nd Secretary Eduardo Gomes MDB Tocantins
3rd Secretary Flávio Bolsonaro REP Rio de Janeiro
4th Secretary Luis Carlos Heinze PP Rio Grande do Sul
1st Substitute Marcos do Val PODE Espírito Santo
2nd Substitute Weverton Rocha PDT Maranhão
3rd Substitute Jaques Wagner PT Bahia
4th Substitute Leila Barros PSB Federal District

Composition

Leadership

The current composition[3] of the House (56th Legislature) is as follows:

Parties in the 56th Federal Senate
Party Floor leader Seats % of seats
  Brazilian Democratic Movement Eduardo Braga 13 16.05%
  Social Democratic Otto Alencar 12 14.81%
  Podemos Alvaro Dias 10 12.34%
  Brazilian Social Democracy Roberto Rocha 7 8.64%
  Democrats Rodrigo Pacheco 6 7.41%
  Progressistas Ciro Nogueira 6 7.41%
  Workers Rogério Carvalho 6 7.41%
  Cidadania Eliziane Gama 3 3.70%
  Democratic Labour Weverton Rocha 3 3.70%
  Republican Party of the Social Order Telmário Mota 3 3.70%
  Sustainability Network Randolfe Rodrigues 3 3.70%
  Brazilian Socialist Veneziano Vital do Rêgo 2 2.47%
  Liberal Jorginho Mello 2 2.47%
  Republicanos Mecias de Jesus 2 2.47%
  Social Liberal Major Olímpio 2 2.47%
  Social Christian Zequinha Marinho 1 1.25%
Total 81 100.0%

Current Senators

See also
  • Federal institutions of Brazil

References
  1. "A configuração da Câmara após a investida de Bolsonaro". Nexo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  2. "Senado Federal completa hoje 185 anos". R7 (in Portuguese). 6 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2012. O Senado Federal foi criado com a primeira Constituição do Império, outorgada em 1824, inspirado, primeiramente, na Câmara dos Lordes da Grã-Bretanha. Sua primeira reunião ocorreu em 6 de maio de 1826..
  3. "Lideranças Parlamentares" (in Portuguese). Senado Federal. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
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