by Fernando Raphael Ferro.
There are many similarities between Brazil and United
States that sometimes is a little bit hard understand why both countries are,
in the end, so different. But the electoral system is one of the huge and most
important differences between Brazil and United States. First of all, USA begins
as a democracy, a Republic, and Brazil as an Empire. This is the first
historical difference. But, along the year, Brazil has become a republic so,
and even in its imperial times, was a democracy. But ours electoral system has
never been divided in districts like in USA.
Here
in Brazil we adopt a system of proportional vote, what means that the most
voted parties share the chair on parliament between the most voted candidates
of his party. In this system, we can guarantee that some candidates with less
than 1,000 votes can be elected together with others whit more than one million
votes.
People
who create the American electoral system was though to establish the best
system to fit to the needs of American people. It is not perfect, I believe,
but it works. Here in Brazil, the electoral system was created to fit the needs
of political class, just legitimating this. So, in every elections, what we see
here in Brazil, are lots of small parties with pop star candidates (like clowns,
football players, actors, singers) who try to get lots of votes to help elect
candidates without popular expression.
As a
result for the fact that we don’t have districts, all candidates of all parties
run against everybody for popular vote, what ruins that sense of political
identity of a party. Two candidates of the same party, during the election, are
like enemy, and there’s no ideology that survives in such environment. The
campaign also becomes too expensive, and riches candidates or riches
candidatures are benefitted.
Here in
Brazil we have 32 different parties in National Congress as a final result of
this confuses electoral system, created to fit the only needs of political
class. And there are other 23 parties to be created. Of those, at least to are
near to became recognized: NOVO, a soft right party, and REDE, a kind of left
party mixed with green party.
This
difference in the electoral system may see a little thing in a huge universe of
similitudes. But it explains lots of social, political and economic behavior of
Brazilian people, and why is so hard to us be pragmatic sometimes. To a
Brazilian is hard to image a congress that works harmonic whit the government,
without blackmail, and endless negotiations. At same time, in the Brazilian
economy an intricate system of subsides, protections and privileges operates
with the help of congressman, what is absolutely invisible for who is outside
of the country and the game.
I don’t
know USA as well I know Brazil. I believe that in USA, in some scale, those
things should also happen. But here, this is part of our political and social
system, and without understand this, you will never survive in Brazil.
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