A Look Into Brazil's Political System

Pat Ray M Dagapioso

October 10, 2009

Prof. T. Barcenas

POSC 113

Explanatory Notes

1. Political Culture a. Cultural Traditions, Values, and Attitudes i. Identify 3 dominant political traditions, values, attitudes adhered to by the people/practiced. Brazil’s significant political culture can be summarized as, lack of political party tradition, political clientilism, and coronelismo. According to the Country Study: Brazil, Many aspects of Brazil's political system may be explained by its political culture (see Glossary), the origins of which may be found in traditional rural society during the colonial and independence periods through 1930. This political culture evolved into three styles of politics. Under the more traditional style of politics, coronelismo, the local coronel (colonel), in alliance with other large farmers, controlled the votes of rural workers and their families. The local political chiefs in turn exchanged votes with politicians at the state level in return for political appointments and public works in their municipalities (municípios ). Reis (1996: 146), on the other hand, raised that Brazil’s political elites rougly 30% of them knew that the political elites themselves had lack of party traditions

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and 9% of the bureaucrats interviewed had responded that political clientilism existed yet, does not present as a tough problem.

b. Ideological Orientation i. What is the general reigning political ideology adhered by the political system? The Brazilian Political system is adhering a democratic state. The seventh and current Brazilian Constitution, it was promulgated on October 5, 1988 after a two-year process in which it was written from scratch by a Constitutional Congress elected in 1986. Brazil’s new constitution shows that democracy in the country is strengthened by the newly formed constitution. It appears as a reaction to the period of military dictatorship, seeking to guarantee all manner of rights and restricting the state's ability to limit freedom, to punish offences and to regulate individual life. On the other hand, it did not provide clear rules for state reform and kept the economic regulation of the country intact. In the following years, especially from 1995 onwards, this constitution had to be amended many times to get rid of obsolete, contradictory or unclear provisions (but also to accommodate the economic reforms conducted by the government, for which such amendments have been sometimes criticised). As of January 2009 this Constitution has been amended 57 times.1 ii. Identify 2 major operating principles of this reigning ideology. 1

Brazil Federal Constitution. Date Retrieved: September 30, 2009. http://www.v-brazil.com/government/laws/constitution.html

2

The two major operating principles of democracy in Brazil are the institution of liberal values in the state such as, adherence to human rights, and the role of state in the economy. According to the Title 1, Article 4 of the Brazilian constitution: The international relations of the Federative Republic of Brazil are governed by the following principles: national independence; prevalence of human rights; selfdetermination

of

the

peoples;

and

non-intervention,

among

others.

c. Role Differentiation and Specialization Focused on the Local Government Units i. Identify 2 local governmental units The two prominent administrative distinctions in Brazil are the states and the municipalities. The Federative Republic of Brazil is a union of twenty-six estados ("states"; singular estado) and one district, the Distrito Federal ("Federal District") which contains the capital city, Brasília. States are generally based on historical, conventional borders and have developed throughout the centuries; though some boundaries are arbitrary. The federal district is not a state on its right, but shares some characteristics of a state and some of a municipality. The municipalities of Brazil are administrative divisions of the states of Brazil. At present, Brazil has 5,564 municipalities, making the average municipality population 34,361.2 The average state in Brazil has 214 municipalities. Each 2

Brazil Federal Constitution. Date Retrieved: September 30, 2009. http://www.v-brazil.com/government/laws/constitution.html

3

municipality has an autonomous local government, comprising a mayor and a legislative body elected directly by their people, that collects taxes and also receives funds from the State and Union government. [1] However, municipal governments have no judicial power, and courts are only organised at the State or Union level. A subdivision of the State judiciary, or comarca, can either correspond to an individual municipality or encompass several municipalities. Municipalities can be split or merged to form new municipalities within the borders of the State, if the people of the involved municpalities express a desire to do so in a plebiscite. However, these must abide by the Federal Constitution, and forming exclaves or seceding from the State or Union is expressly forbidden.[ ii. Identify and specify 2 major offices and 2 major occupants iii. Identify specifically 2 major changes that took place in the national/local government units: in terms of elections, charter change, coup d’etat. Two major offices in the state are the governor and the vice governor. On the other hand, it is the mayors and vice mayors who takes care of the cities and towns. Until 1994 state governors and vice governors were elected to one four-year term, taking office on January 1 following their election. In 1998 those elected in 1994 may seek one consecutive second term. State deputies are also elected to four-year terms but are not restricted to one term. Governors have state cabinets, and their executive branch is organized in a manner similar to the federal executive

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branch. Likewise, state assemblies organize their legislative process like that of Congress. After 1988 state assemblies lost their salary autonomy; state deputies may receive up to 75 percent of the salary of a federal deputy. State governments are responsible for maintaining state highway systems, low-cost housing programs, public infrastructure, telephone companies, and transit police. Both state and municipal governments are responsible for public primary and secondary schools and public hospitals. State tax revenues are concentrated in sales taxes. State governments are allowed to operate state financial institutions, most of which are a constant problem for the Central Bank because they run heavy deficits, especially in election years. In 1995 the Central Bank intervened in some of the state banks with the worst deficits (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Alagoas, and Mato Grosso) and sought to privatize others. In October 1996, Brazil had 5,581 municipalities, of which more than 15 percent had populations under 5,000. The municipal taxing authority is concentrated on property and service taxes. Mayors and vice mayors must be at least twenty-one years of age and are elected to one four-year term. Reelection is now permitted as of the year 2000. City council members must be at least eighteen years of age and are elected to renewable four-year terms under a proportional representation system

d. Political Socialization i. Identify 3 major agencies of political socialization

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ii. What is the content of each of these agencies in learning about parties, governments and political processes? The three major agents of political socialization in Italy are schools, religion, and the family. According to the Country Study: Brazil (1998), Brazilians place high value on family and kinship relations. These are especially valued in an environment in which authorities, on the one hand, and one's subordinates, on the other, are thought to be untrustworthy. Most Brazilians are genuinely fond of children and are attached to their parents, and they cultivate a wide circle of aunts, uncles, and cousins. In the past, relationships with godchildren, godparents, and ritual coparents extended these networks, but they are losing their importance in modern urban society. Further, education was also a mainstream socializing agent in Brazil. As in other areas of social life, education in Brazil is marked by great inequalities, with a highly developed university system at one extreme and widespread illiteracy at the other. Despite considerable progress in coverage, serious problems of quality remain. In 1995 the federal government was spending almost twice as much on the universities as on basic education, which is the primary responsibility of states and municipalities. Local governments often paid teachers wages that were well below the legal minimum.

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In 1990 there were 37.6 million students, as compared with 10 million in 1964. Of the 1990 total, 3.9 million students were in preschool, 29.4 million in elementary school, 3.7 million in secondary school, and 1.7 million in university. Despite this progress, less than 40 percent of the high school-age population was enrolled in school. And lastly, religion played a key role in forming the values and attitudes of the Brazilians today. Country Study: Brazil says (1998) that, Brazil is said to be the largest Roman Catholic country in the world. In 1996 about 76 percent of the population, or about 122 million people, declared Roman Catholicism as their religion, as compared with 89 percent in 1980. The decline may have resulted from a combination of a real loss of influence and a tendency to be more objective in answering census questions about religion.

2. Political Institutions a. Executive Branch

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i. Identify 3 major offices vested with executive powers and authority. ii. How are they chosen? iii. Identify 3 major functions of each. The three major offices of the Brazilian executive branch are the president, vice-president and the cabinet. The president is both the head of government and the head of state. A president must be a native Brazilian over age thirty-five 3. From 1945 to 1979, presidents had five-year terms. Following President Figueiredo's six-year term, the 1988 constitution again set the term at five years, but the 1994 constitutional revision reduced the mandate to four years. Although all of Brazil's constitutions since 1891 have prohibited immediate reelection of presidents, governors, and mayors, in June 1997 Congress approved an amendment allowing reelection. Thus, President Cardoso and the twenty-seven governors may stand for reelection in 1998, and the mayors elected in 1996 may be reelected in 2000. The Brazilian president has the power to appoint some 48,000 confidence positions, of which only ambassadors, higher-court judges, the solicitor general, and Central Bank directors must have Senate approval. The president may also use the line-item veto, impound appropriated funds, issue decrees and provisional measures, initiate legislation, and enact laws.

3

Brazil Federal Constitution. Date Retrieved: September 30, 2009. http://www.v-brazil.com/government/laws/constitution.html

8

Until 1964 the president and vice president were elected on separate tickets, which produced incompatible duos in 1950 and 1960. The vice president's primary job is to replace the president on the event of his or her death or resignation, and to assume the Presidency temporarily while the president is abroad, or otherwise temporarily unable to fulfill his or her duties. Title 4, Article 87, states clearly the functions of The Ministers of State: has the power to: I - exercise guidance, coordination and supervision of the agencies and entities of the federal administration in the area of his authority and to countersign acts and decrees signed by the President of the Republic; II - issue instructions for the enforcement of laws, decrees and regulations; III - submit to the President of the Republic an annual report on his administration of the Ministry; IV - perform the acts pertinent to the duties assigned or delegated to him by the President of the Republic.

b. Legislative Branch i. Identify 2 chambers of the legislative branch. ii. Identify total number of each chambers. iii. Identify how members are chosen. iv. Identify 3 major functions of each chamber.

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The National Congress of Brazil or the Cogresso Nacional is made up of the Federal Senate (Senado Federal) and the Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados). The Federal Senate of Brazil4 (Portuguese: Senado Federal do Brasil) is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. Created by the first Constitution of the Brazilian Empire in 1824, it was inspired in United Kingdom's House of Lords, but with the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 it became closer to the United States Senate. Currently, the Senate comprises 81 seats. Three Senators from each of the 26 states and three Senators from the Federal District are elected on a majority basis to serve eight-year terms. Elections are staggered so that two-thirds of the upper house is up for election at one time and the remaining one-third four years later. The current president of the Brazilian Senate is José Sarney, from the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party of Amapá. He was elected on early 2009 for a two-year term. The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil5 (Portuguese: Câmara dos Deputados) is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. As of 2006, the chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional 4 5

The Official website of the Federal Senate of Brazil. Date Retrieved: September 30. 2009. http://www.senado.gov.br/sf/ National Congress of Brazil. Date Retrieved: September 30, 2009. http://www2.camara.gov.br/english

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representation to serve four-year terms. The current president of the Chamber is deputy Michel Temer (PMDB-SP). Senators tend to be older and have more established political careers. Most have served as federal deputies, and many have been governors. Deputies usually tend to have served in city councils, state assemblies, and as state cabinet secretaries. In the first half of the 1990s, the proportion of deputies elected with no prior political experience increased. In 1995 the largest contingents in the Chamber of Deputies by occupation were businessmen, 32 percent; lawyers, 20 percent; medical doctors, 11 percent; engineers, 7 percent; labor leaders, 6 percent; teachers, 5 percent; economists, 5 percent; public servants, 3 percent; journalists, 3 percent; and administrators, 2 percent. The Senate and Chamber of Deputies have legislative initiative. The Senate and Chamber of Deputies have six and sixteen standing committees, respectively, plus a joint budget committee. The 1988 constitution gives the committees the power to approve or kill legislation. To override a committee decision and bring the bill to the floor of the appropriate house requires a petition signed by a certain number of members. Once one house passes a bill, the other deliberates on it. If a different version of the bill is passed, it returns to the original house for a final vote on the differences. The internal rules of each house allow members and party leaders certain prerogatives of obstruction.

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c. Judicial Branch i. Identify 2 major judicial units in the national level and 2 judicial units in the local level. ii. What is the composition of each? iii. Identify 3 powers and functions of each.

The judiciary system in Brazil can be divided into the national and local level. The national level courts are the Superior Justice Tribunal and the Supreme Federal Tribunal. The states on the other hand are divided into judicial districts. These judicial districts are called comarcas. Comarcas maybe composed of one or more cities. Each state territory is divided into judicial districts named comarcas, which are composed of one or more municipalities. The 26 Courts of Justice have their headquarters in the capital of each State and have jurisdiction only over their State territories. The Federal District only presents the federal-level judicial branch. Each comarca has at least one trial court, a court of first instance. Each court of first instance has a law judge and a substitute judge. The judge decides alone in all civil cases and in most criminal cases. Only intentional crimes against life are judged by jury. The judges of the courts are nominated after a selection process. There are specialized courts of first instance for family litigation or bankruptcy in some

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comarcas. Judgments from these district courts can be the subject of judicial review following appeals to the courts of second instance. There are two national superior courts making up the Supreme Court, which grant writs of certiorari in civil and criminal cases: the Superior Court of Justice ("Superior Tribunal de Justiça" in Portuguese, shorthand STJ) and the Supreme Federal Court ("Supremo Tribunal Federal" in Portuguese, shorthand STF), the highest Brazilian court (decides issues concerning offences to the Brazilian Constitution). The "Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ)" is the Brazilian highest court in non-constitutional issues and grants a Special Appeal (Recurso Especial in Portuguese) when a judgement of a court of second instance offends a federal statute disposition or when two or more second instance courts make different rulings on the same federal statute. There are parallel courts for labor law, electoral law and military law. The STF grants Extraordinary Appeals (Recurso

Extraordinário in

Portuguese) when judgements of second instance courts violate the constitution. The STF is the last instance for the writ of habeas corpus and for reviews of judgments from the STJ. The superior courts do not analyze any factual questions in their judgments, but only the application of the law and the constitution. Facts and evidences are

13

judged by the courts of second instance, except in specific cases such as writs of habeas corpus.

3. Political Dynamics a. Interest Groups i. Identify 4 major interest groups.

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ii. Describe their composition. iii. Identify 2 major principal philosophies.

Brazil is abundant with interest groups trying to influence the bureaucratic process. Among these are, the Sao Paolo State Federation of Industries, Brazilian Institute of Social Economic Analysis, CNBB and Petrobas. In 1983 the Interunion Parliamentary Advisory Department (Departamento Intersindical de Assessorial Parlamentar--DIAP) was founded to coordinate and unify the lobbying efforts of the labor movement. The DIAP represented 517 unions, nine confederations, and one central federation in 1992. The DIAP soon proved highly efficient in monitoring legislative activities, publishing profiles of the performance of congressional members, and identifying friends and enemies of workers. In the 1991-94 period, the party leadership's manipulations attempted to thwart DIAP monitoring by floor voting, and very few roll-call votes were taken during that session. Since the 1930s, business groups have been organized into umbrella federations at the state level and confederations at the national level, such as the São Paulo State Federation of Industries (Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo—FIESP. Professional groups, such as associations of medical doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, and engineers, are usually more active regarding the regulation of

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their professions, but occasionally attempt to influence more generalized economic and social legislation. Since the 1970s, there has been a steady growth of urban social movements and groups concerned with issues such as the prevention and treatment of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), racial prejudice, consumer rights, ecology, the homeless, Indians, mortgages, street children, and tenants. As a result, there has been a parallel growth of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Some NGOs are considered aggregative, such as the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analysis (Instituto Brasileiro de Análise Social e Econômica--IBASE) in Rio de Janeiro,

b. Political Parties

i. Identify 3 major political parties. ii. Describe their composition. iii. Identify 2 major principal philosophies.

Among the chief political parties in Brazil are the Worker’s Party, Brazilian Democratic Party, and the Socialism and Freedom Party. The Workers' Party (Portuguese: Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) is a socialist political party in Brazil.6 It is recognized as one of the largest and most important left-wing leadership movements of Latin America. The party was 6

Worker’s Party Official Website. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://www.pt.org.br/portalpt/index.php

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launched under a democratic socialism trend. After the 1964 coup d'état, Brazil's main federation of labor unions, the General Command of Workers (Comando Geral dos Trabalhadores - CGT), which since its organization gathered leaders approved of by the Ministry of Labour - a practice tied to the fact that since the Vargas dictatorship, unions had become quasi-state organs - was dissolved, while unions themselves suffered intervention of the military regime. Therefore, the Workers' Party emerged rejecting the traditional leaders of official unionism, and seeking to put into practice a new form of democratic socialism, trying to reject political models it regarded as decayed, such as the Soviet and Chinese ones. The Brazilian Social Democracy Party7 (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB) is a centrist/center-left political party in Brazil. Its mascot symbol is a blue and yellow colored toucan (and its members are called "tucanos" for such reason) and its election code is 45. PSDB questions the use of what it considers "outdated political labels", such as "left" and "right". The Socialism and Freedom Party8 (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade, P-SOL) is a Brazilian political party. Among the party leaders are Heloísa Helena (Alagoas), federal deputies Luciana Genro (Rio Grande do Sul) and Babá (Pará), and a number of well-known Brazilian left-wing leaders and intellectuals, such as Milton Temer, Carlos Nelson Coutinho, Ricardo Antunes, Francisco de Oliveira, João Machado, Pedro Ruas and others. 7 8

Brazilian Social Democracy Party website. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. https://www2.psdb.org.br/home/index.php PSOL Official Website. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009.www.psol.org.br

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PSOL was formed after Heloísa Helena, Luciana Genro, Babá and João Fontes (also a federal deputy, now a member of the Democratic Labour Party, PDT) were expelled from the Workers' Party, after voting against the pension reform proposed by Lula. After collecting more than 438,000 signatures, P-SOL became Brazil's 29th officially recognized political party, the first to do so by this method.

c. Mass Media i. Identify 2 major national media outfits. ii. Identify 2 principal programs of each outlet and how they exert impact in shaping political decisions and orientations.

Brazil hosts more than a hundred tv and radio relay stations. Among these numbers are the TV Band and Rede Globo, which operate nationwide coverage in all of Brazil. Rede Globo (English: Globo Network, better known as TV Globo, Globo TV or simply Globo) is a Brazilian television network, owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo. The network is currently the largest in the Latin America and the fourth largest in the world, just behind the U.S. networks ABC, CBS and NBC, being watched by 120 million people daily. [1][2][3]

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Globo is headquartered in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, where its news division is based. The network's main production studios are located at a complex dubbed Projac (in Portuguese "Projeto Jacarepaguá"), located in Jacarepaguá, Rio's western area. In 2007, Globo moved their analogue operations to a purpose-built high-definition television production in digital broadcasting. It is composed of 121 owned and affiliate television stations throughout Brazil plus its own international networks, Globo Television International and Rede Globo Portugal (Network Globo Portugal). Rede Record (Network Record) is a Brazilian television network. Owned by Bishop Edir Macedo, founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, it currently is Brazil's second largest television network[1]. With 55 years of uninterrupted transmission, it is also the oldest TV network of the country. IV. Political Change and Development a. System Capabilities i. Identify 3 system capabilities that need to be addressed by the political system. (justify) ii. Identify 3 current activities (political, economic, social, cultural) that is undertaken by the political system to reinforce the 3 system capabilities.

The three system capabilities that need to be addressed by the political system are: regulative capability, responsive and distributive capabilities.

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Regulative behaviour refers to the political system’s exercise of control over behavior of individuals and groups. Terrorism was one of the problems in Brazil, that had been addressed well in the country. The Government of Brazil extended practical, effective support to US counterterrorism efforts in 2002. Authorities have been cooperative, following up on leads

provided

by

the

US

Government

on

terrorist

suspects.

A Sao Paulo judge sentenced three Chileans, two Colombians, and one Argentine to 16 years in prison for kidnapping a Brazilian advertising executive. A well-known terrorist and former high-ranking member of the largely defunct Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front (Chile), Mauricio Hernandez Norambuena, was among those

sentenced. The Brazilian Federal Police in 2002 arrested individuals with alleged ties to

terrorist groups. In April, police arrested Egyptian Mohammed Ali Aboul-Ezz alMahdi Ibrahim Soliman (a.k.a. Suleiman), in the Triborder city of Foz do Iguazu. Soliman was arrested on the basis of an Egyptian Government extradition request for his alleged involvement in the 1997 al-Gama?a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group, IG) attack on tourists in Luxor, Egypt, but the Brazilian Supreme Court released him on 11 September due to insufficient evidence to extradite. On 14 September, another IG suspect, Hesham al-Tarabili was arrested in Brazil at Egypt’s request in connection

with

the

Luxor

attack.

In another case, authorities in June arrested Assad Ahmad Barakat as a result of an extradition request from Paraguay on charges of tax evasion and

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criminal association. Barakat is a naturalized Paraguayan of Lebanese origin who had lived in the Triborder area for approximately seven years and had become notorious for allegedly moving millions of dollars to Lebanese Hizballah. The Brazilian Supreme Court on 19 December approved the extradition request. At year’s end, Barakat was still in Brazilian custody and applying for refugee status in Brazil. In January 2004, former President Fernando Cardoso proposed a revision of Brazil’s antiterrorism laws that would define terrorism more precisely and impose stricter punishment for those involved in terrorist acts. Brazil became a party to the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings in 2002, making it party to nine of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. Legislation also was pending to allow wiretaps for court-approved investigations and to become a party to the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. At year’s end, neither piece of legislation had yet been submitted for Congressional approval. The Brazilian Government is willing and able to monitor financial operations domestically[. Responsive capability talks about the relationship of the inputs and the outputs of the political system. The responsive capability of Brazil is shown in its fight for sustaining the Amazon forests. The ongoing expansion of agriculture in Brazil is seriously threatening rare and vulnerable habitats such as the Atlantic Forest, the Cerrado, and the Amazon. The major threat for these vast – but not infinite – natural areas is the often

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destructive

expansion

of

a

vegetable,

more

precisely

a

bean:

soy.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), soy was Brazil’s main agricultural crop by harvested area in 2004, with more than 21 million ha under cultivation. Another crop of concern is cocoa, which has been blamed for widespread deforestation in Brazil. During the cocoa economic boom of the 1970s, expansion of this crop was a leading cause of the decline of Brazil’s endangered Atlantic Forest ecosystem, of which only about 10% persists - barely.

The Cerrado, an extensive woodland savanna ecosystem in Brazil, is threatened by cattle ranching. The expansion of cattle ranching is closely linked to the increased soy cultivation - which poses serious concerns about the impact of this

industry

on

sensitive

ecosystems.

There are also concerns about the expansion of chicken and pork production moving into the Cerrado. Early September this year, Brazilian government sought to ban sugar cane plantaiton in the forests reserves.9 The proposal, which must be passed by Congress, comes amid concerns that Brazil's developing biofuels industry is increasing Amazon deforestation. Environment Minister Carlos Minc said the

9

Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8262381.stm

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measures would mean ethanol made from sugar cane would be "100% green". The government agenda is becoming more environmentally friendly ahead of the 2010 presidential poll, analysts say. The plans unveiled by Mr Minc would limit sugar cane plantations to 7.5% of Brazilian territory or 64m hectares, and prevent the clearing of new land for the crop. Further, the Brazilian government tries to protect the remaining forests lands. Brazil's Amazon Region Protected Areas Programme (ARPA) 10 has been instrumental in the formation of these protected areas. It is the world's largest tropical forest conservation programme and aims to protect 60 million hectares in the Amazon by 2013 – an area equivalent to the size of Spain and Portugal. Lastly, the distributive capability refers to the allocation of goods, services, honors and statues and opportunities of various minds from political system to individuals and groups in the society. School non-attendance by absence and malnutrition is one of the biggest educational problems in Brazil. Work under the age of 16 is forbidden by law, however Brazil has many cases of child labor. Children from large poor families start working from the age of 10 in order to help their parents, despite the law of compulsory education between the ages of 10 and 14. Other reasons for school non-attendance are the lack of sufficient school places and the high examination

10

Brazilian government protects new tracts of Amazon. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/safeguarding_the_natural_world/forests/forest_work/index.cfm?uNewsID=1169#

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failure rate. Malnutrition also materially affects the intellectual development of children, giving them little chance of adapting to an educational environment. The standards of primary and secondary public education have been falling over the past decades. Since the country invested little in education, public education's standards dropped and the middle class moved their children to private schools. Nowadays, practically all the middle class sends their children to private schools. Costs may vary from as little as R$ 600 (US$ 240) p.a. in smaller cities to R$ 30,000 (US$ 17,000) p.a.[in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. The situation has been improving over the past few years thanks to two official projects: Bolsa Escola, by which parents who keep their children in school and with good health receive a small allowance, and FUNDEF, by which municipalities receive federal funds in accordance to the number of children enrolled. Bolsa Escola was a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program that offered mothers in poor households a monthly stipend if their children ages 6 to 15 attended school on a regular basis. The program was implemented across all of Brazil between the years 2001 and 200311, until it was folded into the broader Bolsa Familia program.

11

Folha Online. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/especial/colegios12.htm

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Further, Brazil is participating of the One Laptop Per Child project, aiming at providing low cost laptops to poor children in developing countries, but the program is moving slowly. b. Political Issues and Problems Affecting the Political Change and Development of the Political System i. Identify 3 current and major national issues and problems affecting political change and development. Three astounding problems in Brazil are poverty, crime, and social apartheid. Poverty. Poverty in Brazil is most visually represented by the various favelas, slums in the country's metropolitan areas and remote upcountry regions that suffer with economic underdevelopment and below-par standards of living. An attempt to mitigate these problems is the "Fome Zero" hunger-eradication program implemented by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2003. Part of this is "Bolsa Família", a major anti-poverty program that gives money directly to impoverished families so as to keep their children in school. Lula's government reduced 19.8% the rate of misery based on labour income during June 2002 and June 2006 according to Fundação Getúlio Vargas. In June 2006 the rate of misery is 18.57% of the population.12

12

Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://www.ipea.gov.br/sites/000/2/livros/desigualdaderendanobrasil/Cap_10_AImportanciaDaQued aRecente.pdf

25

The rate of poverty is in part attributed to the country's economic inequality. Brazil ranks among the world's highest nations in the Gini coefficient index of inequality assessment. A study on the subject shows that the poor segment constitutes roughly one third of the population, and the extremely poor make out 13% (2005 figures).13 However, the same study shows the income growth of the poorest 20% population segment to be almost in par with China, while the richest 10% are stagnating. Crime. Crime in Brazil involves an elevated incidence of violent and nonviolent crimes. According to most sources, Brazil possesses high rates of violent crimes, such as murders and robberies; the homicide rate has been steadily declining, but it is still above 20.0 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, placing the country in the top 20 countries by intentional homicide rate. The Swiss-based NGO Small Arms Survey says that, in light of recent improvements, Brazil is no longer one of the most violent places on Earth. Kidnappings occur, but increased police know-how has somewhat alleviated the problem. Prostitution per se is not a crime in Brazil, unlike procuring. The Government of Brazil has recently increased efforts to combat child prostitution and sex tourism.

13

World Bank. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2007/05/25/000090341_2007052 5132633/Rendered/PDF/398530SP1709.pdf

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It is believed that most life-threatening crime in Brazil can be traced back to drug trade and alcoholism.14 Brazil is a heavy importer of illicit cocaine, as well as part of the international drug routes. Arms and marijuana employed by criminals are mostly locally-produced. New legislation has brought stricter punishment to domestic abuse and driving under the influence. Thousands of human trafficking and slavery cases are reported annually, usually associated with sugarcane plantation or, in cities, illegal immigrants from Asia and Latin America.[11] Crime rates vary greatly across the country, with a higher incidence in metropolitan suburbs and in border zones. White-collar crime is targeted mainly by public prosecutors and the Federal Police, and receives new attention from lawmakers: the crime of money laundering was introduced in 1998.15 Corruption of public officials rarely results in criminal prosecution, due to confusing laws; voter fraud was tackled by universal electronic voting. The Internet is also home to numerous Brazilian hackers, while online hate speech, heavily penalized in the Brazilian Penal Code, eludes officers. Land crime is propitiated by bureaucracy and government tolerance, and conflicting ownership claims, particularly in rural areas, challenge the rule of law; deforestation, once rampant, today has sharply declined as negative incentives are imposed and satellite tracking is perfected.

14

Country Data. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r1810.html 15 New Zealand Herald. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10402998

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Social Apartheid. Some consider that these parallels between South Africa during the apartheid era and modern-day Brazil are strengthened by that fact that inequities in the economic and social status particularly affect Afro-Brazilians16. According to São Paulo Congressman Aloizio Mercadante, a long-standing member of Brazil's leftist Workers' Party (PT), "Just as South Africa had racial apartheid, Brazil has social apartheid." Afro-Brazilians trail White Brazilians in almost all social indicators, including income and education, and those living in cities are far more likely to be abused or killed by police, or incarcerated. Brazil's social apartheid also has negative impacts on educational opportunities for the disadvantaged. These inequities are so great that the wealthy live in walled-off gated communities, and the disadvantaged classes do not interact at all with the wealthy "except in domestic service and on the shop floor". According to France Winddance Twine17, the separation of both class and race even extend into what she terms "spatial apartheid", where upper-class residents and guests, presumed to be white, enter apartments buildings and hotels through the main entrance, while domestics and service providers, presumed to be black, enter at the side or rear. Carlos Verrisimo states that Brazil is a racist state, and that the inequities of race and class are often inter-related. Michael Löwy agrees, stating that the "social apartheid" is manifested in the gated communities, a "social discrimination which also has an implicit racial dimension where the great majority of the poor are black 16

Social Apartheid in Brazil. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://www.cydjournal.org/NewDesigns/ND_98Fall/brandao_A0.html 17 Logos journal. Date Retrieved: October 1, 2009. http://www.logosjournal.com/lowy.htm

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or half-caste."[ Despite Brazil's retreat from military rule and return to democracy in 1988, social apartheid has only gotten worse

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