Reform of the constitution or political backlash in brazil

REFORM OF THE CONSTITUTION OR POLITICAL BACKLASH IN BRAZIL
Fernando Alcoforado *
There is no way to change the reality experienced by Brazil in the economic, political
and administrative fields unless the holding of the constitutional reform to avoid a
political and institutional breakdown in the country and build a new political and
administrative radically democratic based on ethics and development for the benefit of
the entire population. It is not enough to hold a mere political reform including as has
been recommended by President Dilma Rousseff. The situation currently lived in Brazil
calls into question not only the powers, but also representative democracy that may lead
to ungovernability of the power structures in Brazil, now quite demoralized by
successive corruption scandals that are reaching all branches of government.
Brazil faces a process of ethical and moral collapse in the political-institutional level
never seen in the history of the country. The growing disbelief of the population with
respect to political institutions is a great mark of our time because the vast majority of
candidates for public office in Brazil is not moved by the public interest, that is, to
promote political, economic and social changes for the benefit of the population and the
country. The elected positions in the executive branch and parliament fundamentally
constitute a means for elected provide services to the funding of their election
campaigns, enrich himself and earn existing perks. Situations are unacceptable by the
majority of the Brazilian population.
Unacceptable is also corruption in Brazil that is systemic corresponding to the use of the
state apparatus by government officials for illegitimate private purposes. Forms of
corruption include bribery or kickbacks, extortion, patronage, nepotism, patronage,
influence peddling, misuse of inside government information for personal or friendly
people or relatives, buying and selling of judicial sentences, receiving gifts or services
high value by authorities and embezzlement. The state of corruption political systemic
rampant is known as kleptocracy, so that we conclude that Brazil is ruled by thieves.
Currently, Brazil is not faced with a picture of impending political and institutional
breakdown. But if everything continues as is, with the failure of representative
democracy and the possibility of worsening economic crisis in the country, Brazil may
be faced with the possibility of a political-institutional breakdown with the advent of a
new dictatorship to put "order at home” of unpredictable consequences. The economic
crisis and the political and institutional crisis, together, can lead to dissatisfaction of
wide social sectors and create a Hobbesian situation characterized by economic and
social chaos that could only be resolved by a strong central government, that is, with the
implementation of a dictatorial system that needs to be avoided at all costs.
You need to take into account the examples of history to predict future political events.
The new political, economic and social order that has existed in Brazil since the 1930
Revolution, which brought to power political forces under the leadership of Getúlio
Vargas, took place thanks to the global economic crisis of 1929 that profoundly affected
the Brazilian economy and as the rampant corruption in the Old Republic. The military
coup of 1964 was due, among other things, the increase of the extended social tensions
with the economic crisis experienced by Brazil under the João Goulart government. The
end of the military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985 and the country's democratization
resulted, among other factors, the deep economic crisis experienced by Brazil in the
1980s. These examples demonstrate that the political and institutional breakdowns
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always result of economic crises which are enhanced by the existence of political and
institutional crisis.
Currently, it is a must implement the reform of the Constitution which would have the
role of preventively avoid a political and institutional breakdown in the country and
build a new political and administrative order in Brazil. The new Constitution of Brazil
should be elaborated through a Constituent Assembly that would not be composed of
the current members of Congress because they would be unable to make a Constitution
that meets the vast majority of the nation's interests. Its members would be elected by
the people with the sole mission to approve the reform in the Constitution. The
realization of a new Constituent Assembly in Brazil would correct the distortions of the
1988 Constitution and allow to set new directions for Brazil, not only at the economic,
political and social, but also in the ethical and moral plans.
One of the goals of future constituents would be to propose a new governance structure
based on the parliamentary system to ensure good governance and the stability of
political institutions in Brazil with a renewed Supreme Court acting as a moderating
power. Clearly, if the parliamentarism exist in Brazil, it would be easier to get out of the
current political impasse with the replacement of a Congress and an incompetent
government like Dilma Rousseff to call new parliamentary elections. While the
Brazilian political system is cast with an ineffective presidentialism as the current,
unable to order the life of the Brazilian nation on a new basis, the economic crisis
worsens every day that goes by and the results are there: meager economic growth,
inflation above goal, external imbalances, stagnant productivity and, now kick in the
social achievements.
Another major goal of the constituents future would be to restructure the representative
democracy in Brazil which shows clear signs of exhaustion not only by corruption
scandals in the powers of the Republic but especially to discourage popular
participation, reducing political activity to electoral processes that regularly repeated in
which the people elect their representatives which, with few exceptions, after the
elections come to defend interests of economic groups in opposition to the interests of
those who elected them. The facts of reality show that representative democracy in
Brazil and the world, in its current form, constitutes an obstacle to economic and social
changes.
The growing politicization and disbelief of the population with respect to political
institutions is a great mark of our time. Direct elections in Brazil, once viewed as a path
toward democracy, are now reduced to the maximum stage of political participation
allowed in Brazil in order to legitimize the elect. Most candidates for elected office in
Brazil is not moved by the public interest, that is, to promote political, economic and
social changes for the benefit of the population. The elected positions in the executive
branch and legislature shall constitute a means for elected provide services to lenders of
their election campaigns, enrich himself and earn existing perks.
To build a new political and administrative radically democratic based on ethics and
development for the benefit of the entire population, the reform of the Constitution
should consider, inter alia, the following: 1) the substitution of the parliamentary
presidential system with a new Supreme Federal Court acting as moderator power; 2)
the choice of judiciary members should be conducted by a high-level committee elected
by the population for this purpose and not be under the sole discretion of the president
as it does today; 3) the end of the Senate of the Republic with the implementation of
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unicameral system; 4) candidates for elected office should have a life story guided by
ethical and moral principles; 5) the elected candidates should systematically report on
his mandate to their parties and the electorate; 6) political parties, which were given a
mere electoral registries, should operate with clear political-ideological positioning; 7)
voters should exercise as much as the political parties the social control of the elect,
engaging the institutional mechanisms for the punishment of those who eventually have
betrayed the party program and the interests of the electorate in answer about his
withdrawal or not by plebiscite; and 8) the decisions on issues of vital importance to the
population should be plebiscite or referendum object.
* Fernando Alcoforado , member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora, Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e
combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011)
and Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012),
among others.
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Reform of the constitution or political backlash in brazil

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Reform of the constitution or political backlash in brazil