Federalism in Brazil

Unlike in Canada and the United States, where federalism was a technique for uniting states and provinces that had once been autonomous political entities, in Brazil federalism was a technique for dividing what had always been a unitary system of government.'Unlike her neighboring colonies of Latin America, Brazil followed a unique path that led to independence without war, and to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy that lasted for 67 years. 2 Under the Empire, Brazil had a unitary system of government, divided into twenty provinces.The provinces served as election districts for a National Congress with a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies.The provinces elected deputies for four-year terms.The Emperor, however, selected the Senators, who would serve life terms, from a list of three names submitted by each province.Unfortunately, the election process was so manipulated by the central government that the Congress did little to represent the interests of the very limited electorate.The Brazilian provinces were further subdivided into municipalities, 3 with each province and municipality electing its own council.But these councils had no legislative, taxing, or adminis-* The author is a Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, Florida.This paper was prepared for the "Federalism in the Americas... and Beyond" symposium held at Duquesne University School of Law, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 12 and 13, 2004. 1.In practice, however, the enormity of Brazil's land mass and the weakness of the Portuguese colonial regime meant that large parts of Brazil, especially in the interior, were ruled de facto by large landowners.Moreover, the Portuguese Crown began its reign in Brazil by creating a series of hereditary captaincies in which the King ceded vast powers to a small group of large landowners.2. In the beginning of the 19th century, in response to Napoleon's invasion of the Iberian peninsula, the Portuguese monarchy relocated to Rio de Janeiro.In 1815, the Crown proclaimed the Joint Kingdom of Brazil and Portugal.Not until 1820 did the Portuguese finally persuade the reluctant King Jodo to return to Portugal, but he left behind his son, Pedro, as regent.In 1822, Pedro declared Brazilian independence, and Portugal peacefully acquiesced.3. The Portuguese term municipio is usually translated as municipality, but its administrative characteristics are actually closer to a county.This is because the municipio is not simply a city, but also includes the rural territory surrounding an urban area.

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.