Powers, federative character and disproportionality of Brazilian Senate representation: implications for executive-legislative powers relationship

• Grant number: 07/00663-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2007
• Effective date (End): May 31, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science
• Principal Investigator: Marta Teresa da Silva Arretche
• Grantee: Pedro Robson Pereira Neiva
• Host Institution: Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (CEBRAP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research aims to study the role the Senate play in the Brazilian political system, specially its relationship with the executive body. It takes into account three of its remarkable features: its enourmous powers, its strong federative role and its very high level of malapportionment. My interest is to understand how these three features interact to each other and what their effects are, in a political system where there is also a very strong president, a highly fragmented party system and great economic, social and political differences among the states.