05/07/2021

O Globo highlights IMPA study on political systems.

The article by IMPA researcher Luciano Irineu de Castro, which compares data from the Brazilian political system with those of 33 other democracies*, was featured in an article published in the newspaper O Globo , this Monday (5). The report highlighted the main conclusions of the article “How different is the Brazilian political system? – A comparative study” , written in co-authorship with researchers from the University of Brasília (UnB) and the University of Southern California (USC). “Brazil has the highest expenditure per parliamentarian when compared to the country’s average income, is the nation that spends the most on public funding of political parties and has the largest number of party organizations.”

In an interview with the newspaper, Castro explained the criteria used in selecting the countries included in the study, which contains data from nations in Europe, the Americas, and Africa. "We focused on countries with a long history of democratic institutions. We limited the countries because it's not easy to obtain this information."

To arrive at the budget per parliamentarian index, researchers calculated the total budget allocated to the federal Legislative Branch of each country in the sample and divided it by the number of parliamentarians in the respective countries. Then, they divided the result by the country's average income. "Brazil appears at the top of the list, presenting an annual budget per parliamentarian of US $ 5 million (R $ 24.7 million). This value is 528 times greater than the average income of the population, which is US $ 9,500 (R $ 46,943), according to the study," the report highlights.

*List of countries analyzed in the research : South Africa, Germany, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States, Finland, France, Greece, Netherlands, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Republic of Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland.

The study was presented at a symposium on the political system this Monday (5).

The work was presented during the Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Brazilian Political System & XI Research and Extension Conference of the Chamber of Deputies, on the afternoon of this Monday (5). During the session, the USC researcher and co-author of the study Odilon Câmara highlighted that the conclusions obtained by the group are an important “starting point” for future research, and listed questions that they can seek to answer.

“How expensive is it to run and oversee these elections in the country? In the case of Brazil, it's much easier to see this number than in other countries because we have this entity, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which has its own budget.” Then, Câmara presented a graph showing that the TSE's spending on elections, excluding the party fund, is almost R$ 8 billion per year. “We can't compare this number with other countries because in theirs the budget is mixed with other things. But comparing the spending with that of other ministries in Brazil, such as the Federal Justice Ministry, it represents almost two-thirds.”

Castro also presented an article on reelection and impeachment plebiscites.

At the event, Castro also presented the article "Term Lengths, Reelection, and Impeachment Plebiscite," which compares the institution of reelection, currently in force in Brazilian electoral law, with a proposal for an impeachment plebiscite. "All elected officials would serve 8-year terms, without renewal. But every two years, voters would have the opportunity to decide, in a plebiscite, whether or not they want to impeach the officials," he explained.

The researcher pointed out that the proposal could lead to an improvement in the quality of elected officials, but cautioned that important points still need to be evaluated. “More research is needed on some aspects, such as electoral costs and impact on stability. But the impeachment plebiscite is superior in many dimensions. The most important criterion for the people is the quality of the elected officials, and in this respect, the impeachment plebiscite is better,” he concluded.

The symposium on the political system is virtual, open to all audiences, and will be streamed on IMPA's YouTube channel until July 9th. Researchers, economists, and political scientists will discuss problems and solutions to issues in current electoral rules, such as party financing and control, vote transfer, and the candidacy model, as well as topics like minimum income and political alliances. The program is available on the event website .