Brazil government structure and domestic and foreign policy issues facing it. (Term Paper Sample)

Domestic and International Policy Challenges facing Brazil      Natalya Mumu Mwaisaka    ID No.: 663535    School of Humanities and Social Sciences  United States International University    Dr. Lyn Graybill    Introduction to Political Science    Due Date: Fall Semester,2021, Week 11                      Table of Contents. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………3 The Executive………………………………………………………………………………….3 The Legislature………………………………………………………………………………...3 The Judiciary…………………………………………………………………………………..4 Brazil’s foreign policy and challenges facing it……………………………………………….6 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………...12 Brazil is a country located in South America and it was named after trees that abundantly grew on its coast which is to the east of the country. The capital of Brazil is Brasilia. It is the largest and most populous country in South America. It gained its independence from Portuguese rule in 1822, maintaining monarchial rule until 1888 thereafter being declared a republic by its military in 1889. Political dominance was maintained largely by coffee exporters until 1930 when Gelutio Vargas a populist leader rose to power. It has for over 500 years been under military and populist leadership until 1985 when the military handed over power to civilian leaders.  Its official language is Portuguese, now called Brazilian Portuguese as it has been expanded by numerous words adopted from other international and indigenous languages. Over 98% of Brazilians speak Portuguese.    The Executive    Brazil is run under a Federal Government and its current president Jair Bolsonaro has been the 38th president of the Republic since January 1st, 2019. He was elected by popular vote in a second run for a 4-year term garnering over 55% of votes cast. His term is renewable only once consecutively. He is both the Head of State and Head of Government; he is also the Commander in chief of the Armed Forces.  The president heads the Executive arm of the government under advice from his cabinet, which he appoints together with Supreme Court Judges; for the latter, he gets approval from the Senate. The executive is responsible for the governance of the state and enforcing the law.  The president as head of the executive holds significant law-making powers which he exercises by either proposing laws to the National Congress or by using provisional measures (Medidas Provisorias) that allow the president of Brazil with certain exceptions in cases of emergence, urgency, or necessity to enact laws. The president cannot use Provisional Measures to change electoral and criminal laws. Laws enacted under provisional measure are effective immediately for 60 days (extendable to 120 days) until voted for by congress either with approval to become law or to be rescinded.  Under Article 84 of Brazil's current Federal Constitution, the president has various powers including appointing ministers of the state, declaring war, and granting honorary recognition and awards among many more.      The Legislature    The legislature of Brazil is headed by the National Congress (Congresso Nacional). It is a two-chamber legislature made by the Federal Senate (Senado Federal) and Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados) The Chamber of Deputies has 513 members who serve a 4-year term, while the Senate has 81 members who serve an 8-year term.  The Chamber of Deputies members who must be at least 21 years old are elected by vote from each state and each state must have a minimum of 8 representatives and a maximum of 70 representatives which is widely determined by the population of each particular state.  The Senate on the other hand is composed of 3 representatives elected by a simple majority who must be at least 35 years old from each state and 3 from the Federal District.  The legislature meetings are held in two sessions each year each session lasting over 4 months from March to June and August to December. The legislature is constituted by various standing committees with the Senate having 6 committees and the Chamber of Deputies having 16 committees, and one joint committee for the budget. These committees hold the power to approve of decline legislation.  Congress has powers over the Administration of the Union and matters regarding Fiscal Policy and full control and power over the National Budget. The legislature’s most important role is in the Nation's Fiscal and Economic Policies.  The National Congress of Brazil also has an oversight body called The National Accounts Court that audits the Executive’s annual accounts and undertakes random inspections. It is made of 9 members, 3 of whom are appointed by the President and the other 6 by the National Congress.  Of note is that Legislators in Brazil enjoy parliamentary immunity which is often abused even with incidences of homicide.    The Judiciary    The Judiciary Arm of Brazil is made up of 2 distinct sections, the normal section (Justica Comum) of Federal, State, and Municipal Courts and a special section ( Justica Especializada) of Military, Labour, and Electoral Courts.  The highest court is the Supreme Federal Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal) is also the constitutional court and also hears cases involving Executive members and foreign countries and nationals. It consists of 11 justices who are nominated by the President and approved by the Senate.   In 2004 Brazil formed its National Justice Council (Conselho Nacional de Justiça) that works with the Supreme Federal Court. The Council was formed as an administrative and disciplinary arm of the judiciary.  The next Court is the Higher Court of Justice (Superior Tribunal de Justica) which hears non-constitutional matters and cases involving Governors. It has 33 Justices who are also nominated by the President and approved by Senate. Under this branch of normal courts are other courts. Each state has Federal and State courts and Regional Federal Courts that are Appeal courts.  The specialized courts only deal with matters of their jurisdiction. Electoral Courts are responsible for setting election dates, registering political Parties, and hearing matters electoral. Labour courts hear matters on labor issues between employers and employees, while Military courts handle matters of Brazil’s Armed Forces and its members.  Major reforms have been seen in the Judiciary with the Attorney General’s Office introduction in 1993.  The president appoints the Attorney General with the Senate’s approval. The current officeholder is Bruno Bianco, the 4th under the current president Jair Bolsonaro. The Attorney General is a member of the Cabinet and also heads the Advocacia-Geral Da Uniao (AGU), a unit of the Federal Government made up of 4 subunits of Attorney for the National Treasury, Attorney for Brazil, Attorney for Federal Agencies and Attorney for Central Bank.    In normal cases the hearing would begin at a lower court either the State or Federal Court, under state courts are three sub categories of State Judges Courts (counties), Jury Courts and Special Courts, these three are headed by a District Attorney, in dissatisfaction one then moves to the Court of Justice headed by a Public Attorney, further on the matter would be heard at Superior Court of Justice under the Deputy Attorney General or by the Supreme Federal Court under the Attorney General. Under Federal Courts there are also three categories of first instance hearing in Federal Judges Court, Jury Court or Special Court, all headed by Federal Attorneys. In appeals matters from these courts would be heard in the Federal Regional Court headed by a Government Prosecutor, then onwards to either the Superior Court of Justice or the Supreme Federal Court. In the category of special courts which only hears military, electoral or labor matters the military court has two sub sections of State Military Auditor under a State Military Attorney and Permanent Council, Auditors and Military and Special Council under Military Attorneys. These hear military related matters, however appeal from the State Military Auditor are heard at the State Military Court of Justice run a Military State Prosecutor and then further on directly to the Supreme Court, while the other three military courts have their appeals heard at Military Court run the Military Attorney General, and final appeals go the Supreme Federal Court. The electoral and labor courts have a similar structure the initial matters are heard by electoral and labor judges respectively, in dissatisfaction the next courts are the Regional Electoral or Labor Courts headed by Electoral and Labor Prosecutors. The courts above these two for appeals are the Superior Electoral Court and Superior Labor Court under the General Electoral Attorney and General Labor Attorney, further on the appeal go the Supreme Federal Court. Though brazil has an excellent Executive, Legislative and Judicial structure in place, the Judiciary like in many other countries of the worked has numerous challenges when dealing with matters involving government officials like cabinet ministers and the countries elite. For instance, in the Brazilian Judicial system high level government officials like congressmen and cabinet ministers are entitled to have any of their cases heard by the Supreme Court at the first instance, a practice called “privileged forum” (Velloso & Wa...