Brazilian National Congress Background

Throughout its political history as an independent country, Brazil is marked by the existence of two Congressional Bodies in the Federal sphere, which, in certain circumstances, must convene.

The first Constitution of Brazil, from 1824, created the bicameralism (two-chamber system) tradition then inspired by the French Monarchic Letter written after the fall of Napoléon Bonaparte.  At the same time that two Legislative Chambers were being established, the 1824 Imperial Constitution had settled, in article 14, the existence of one "General Assembly", composed by the House of Representatives and the Brazilian Senate.    In article 15, the Constitution set the functions of the General Assembly, which comprehends several competences, including the ability to reformulate its own constitutional text, as well as solving doubts regarding the heir of the throne and, even, to handle the national budget, which should be set annually.

The end of Monarchy and the advent of the Republic led to the development of a new Constitution, in 1891, which determined that the Legislative Branch would be managed by the Brazilian Congress, composed by the House of Representatives and by the Brazilian Senate.  Despite the duties and responsibilities of these two Houses, article 34 enrolled all private functions of the Brazilian Congress, which included, for instance, budget, territorial boundary disputes among federated States and, even, the decision of transferring the capital of the country.

The authoritarian wave from the Interwar period (1918-1939) had also reached Brazil. The liberalism of the Old Republic had been replaced for philosophical policies inspired by the European fascism.

The Constitution of 1934 strongly mitigated the bicameralism in Brazil, and, in article 22, the Legislative Branch is composed by the House of Representatives, with the collaboration from the Brazilian Senate.   The functions of the Senate are no longer part of the chapter dedicated to the Legislative Branch, but in another one called "Da coordenação dos Poderes (Coordinating the Branches)", which should be the new function of the Upper Chamber.  The corporatism is also present in the House of Representatives, which started to house the representatives of professional organizations.

The authoritarian trends had become dominant from the coup of Getúlio Vargas and the elaboration of the 1937 Constitution, which was absolutely unbalanced in terms of relationship among the Branches.  Replacing the Brazilian Congress, there would be a "National Parliament", to be composed of two Houses:  the House of Representatives and a "Federal Council", replacing the Senate.  However, the National Parliament was never settled, and the President of the Republic made extensive use of decree-laws which allowed him to legislate upon legislative issues that were the competency the Union.

The return to Democracy meant a new Constitution, in 1946. The Legislative Branch was again called "Brazilian Congress" and, once again, there was equality in the relation between the Executive and Legislative Branches.  Furthermore, the Brazilian Congress again had its own set of duties, among which, it is worth noting, the budget voting and the appraisal of vetoes of the President of the Republic.

The authoritarian regime, from 1964 on, kept the essential framework of the Brazilian Congress, but with a new period of Executive supremacy over the Legislative Branch.  The President of the Republic again made largely use of the decree-law figure and the ability of the Legislative Branch to confront the President was extremely limited.

Only with the return to the democratic regime and the elaboration of a new Constitution, in 1988, that a new period of balance among the Executive and Legislative Branches began; with a significant increase of the Brazilian Congress functions, the ones that depend on the posterior sanction of the President, and the ones that are the exclusive competency of the Congress.