Brazilian Worker's Party System - Essay Example

?Running head: Brazilian Worker's Party System Brazilian Worker's Party System Insert Insert Grade Insert 14 April The Brazilian party system Introduction Brazil is a democratic republic, whereby, the president is the head of state, the head of the government and he heads a multi-party system. The Brazilian government has the right to executive power in the country’s 26 states. A presidential term is four years, though the president can seek re-election for a second term in office. Brazil has always had a multiparty system, which has an average of fifteen parties. Some of these parties include workers party, Brazilian democratic movement party, Brazilian social democratic party and the democrats’ party. In addition, Brazil contains several political parties; hence, they tend to form coalitions and work together in order to gain power, forming a coalition government. Political parties play a vital role in shaping a country’s democracy and a country’s politics, especially in Brazil where its party system has acquired an elitist nature. Nevertheless, Brazil’s voting rate is quit the same as in developed nations. The rise of the Worker’s Party is also an important and promising issue in Brazil in the recent years. Brazil is also able to attract a large number of voters compared to earlier years. In addition, party systems involve the provision of a ground in which political parties can compete to ensure each party’s survival. This is emphasized by Kraise (n.d), who claims that “the number of component parties, offer a useful measure of the complexity and internal dynamics of a party system, as long as it is supplemented by a measure of ideological distance, when two parties are involved.” Brazilian party system and its features According to Borges (2011), the Brazilian party system has always been associated with clietelism; hence, today, the country has a more stable party system. However, the two parties that seem to overrule the rest during presidential elections are the worker’s party (PT) and the party of Brazilian social democracy (PSDB). Hence, according to Love (2009, pp 38), during the times of President Lula, the Brazilian politicians were known to bribe citizens in poor regions by offering them pork so that they could vote for them; cash handout was also common during polling. Some of the political parties also created a client group, whose aim was to vote for a certain party. According to Mainwaring (1999 pp 5), “parties have weak roots in society and limited legitimacy and exercise little influence over congressional representatives.” He adds that Brazil has severally reshaped and dissolved party systems formation as follows, in 1889, 1930, 1937, 1965 and 1979. Moreover, Mainwaring (1997 pp 8) notes that, the Brazilian political systems are less disciplined compared to the American political parties. Further, “instability, fragility, fragmentation, non-differentiation, lack of cohesiveness and representative ness are the words to describe political parties in Brazil” (Kinzo, 1993, pp 139). This is due to lack of democracy in any party in the country in the earlier years. Rules have also been put in place; however, these rules tend to favor parties that are undisciplined, decentralized, and individualistic. In addition, the author describes the weak parties as a hindrance to popular representation in politics, thus sustaining elicit politics. Politicians were hence seen as the main drive to represent their parties. However, the weak parties disadvantaged the establishment of accountability through parties; for instance, the weaknesses of some political parties interfered with leadership in Brazil (Mainwaring, 1999, pp 6). According to Mainwaring (1997 pp 3), party discipline is essential in any political system since it influences how well the legislatures and executives function and interact. When parties are undisciplined, there is a high possibility of the government to be unstable and ineffective, and interferes with the president’s choice of finding concrete support. He argues that, the possibility of indiscipline of parties could make it possible for a president to woe support from opposition parties for a particular bill that needs to be passed. He further argues that, when a Brazilian legislature goes on leave, this would comprise the results of a voting, since he is supposed to be with his relevant party. This however interferes with the loyalty of officials to their party. The PT (Worker's Party) and how it has changed the "ways" in Brazilian Politics The Worker’s Party (PT) was first launched in 1980 and it became the largest party after the 2010 elections. It has been, since then, the most favored party by majority of Brazilians. President Luiz Lula is the party’s leader and he is the most popular member in the country. When the Worker’s Party emerged, it brought with it some changes such as ruling out the tradition’s leaders who had been in control for a long time. Secondly, it practiced democracy and shunned off decay in politics. In 2002, Lula won the elections by gaining more votes than any other president in the history of Brazil. In the chambers of deputies, the Worker’s Party is the second largest party and ranks fourth in the senate. According to Baiocchi (n.d), the election of Lula as a president was the beginning of democracy in Brazil as a nation; it also quenched the thirst for power for the Worker’s Party. According to Keck (2011), the Worker’s Party of Brazil has taken the country to another level from the military leadership to democracy governance. In addition, the party has been dwelling on the democratic ways of politics. The Workers Party focuses mainly on the welfare of its citizen’s, for instance, it cooperates with the labor movement sector. It also assists women and environmental groups. The Democracy of the Worker’s Party spreads also to the internal structures. In addition, the Workers Party does not entertain business parties; neither does it make coalition with such parties. Nevertheless, most of the Worker’s Party members are concerned with sensitive issues that affect citizens such as homophobia, abortion, and racism. This can only imply that PT promotes human rights and this is an essential tool in democracy. According to Aurelio (2011, pp 127), the Workers Union Party changed the ways of Brazilian politics in a number of ways. First, it put off the bureaucratic and authoritative leadership and sought to improve on democracy as a way of leading the country. Secondly, it contributed towards the abolishment of elicit party system, which only focused on individual interest, other than the citizen’s interests. Thirdly, the party introduced proposals that were aimed at dominating neo-liberalism. The party also made the society interests its concern through promoting anti-AIDS policies, listening to the community concerns, and through participatory budgeting, hence, this was the beginning of democracy in the country. Conclusion When discipline reigns in a political party, it leads to effective representation; however, in cases of indiscipline representation of citizens is overweighed by personal interests. The Workers Party is a good example of democracy since it puts its citizen’s interest at heart and invents programmes that promote women groups and the environment at large. The workers party is an example of proper and participatory governance, whereby, it includes community’s decisions and concerns to its agenda. Therefore, a proper political party system should always promote democracy and represent the interest of its citizen’s first, rather that focusing on individual interests. References Aurelio, M. (2011). Sources of Brazil’s Counter-Hegemony: Fontes da contra-hegemonia brasileira. 125-14. Retrieved from http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbpi/v53n2/07.pdf. Baiocchi, G. (N.d).The Workers' Party and Political Crisis in Brazil: Lula at a Crossroads? Retrieved from http://www.solidarity-us.org/current/node/105. Borges, M. (2011). The Brazilian party system: between ideology and clientelism. Retrieved from http://www.saopaulo2011.ipsa.org/paper/brazilian-party-system-between-ideology-and-clientelism. Keck, M. (2011). The Workers` Party and Democratization in Brazil. Retrieved from http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300063196. Kevin, K. (N.d). The Political Party System and Democracy in the Slovak Republic. University of Notre Dame Publishers. Retrieved from http://www.cla.wayne.edu/polisci/kdk/papers/ma.htm. Kinzo, M. (1993). Brazil, the challenges of the 1990s. London: British Academic Press Publishers. Love, J. Baer, W. (n.d). Brazil under Lula. Macmillan publishers. Mainwaring, S. (1999). Rethinking party systems in the third wave of democratization. Stanford University Press publisher. Mainwaring, S. and Perez- Linan, A. (1997). Party Discipline in the Brazilian Constitution Congress: Working paper #235. Retrieved from http://nd.edu/~kellogg/publications/workingpapers/WPS/235.pdf. Read More