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The current paper discloses a distinctive trait of the open-list proportional representation adopted in Brazil. In such a system, congressmen are in fact elected from four spatial patterns or constituencies: concentrated-dominant municipalities, shared municipalities, scattered-shared municipalities and dominant municipalities. Through the analysis of budgetary amendments made by congressmen the article sheds light on pork barrel practices that stem from our electoral system. The article also correlates variables of political career with spatial patterns of vote distribution, tries to discriminate safe seats in Brazil and, finally, the payoff of distributive and parochial attitudes. ; Este texto revela de forma inovadora traço distintivodo nosso sistema eleitoral proporcional de lista aberta, a saber, a existência de quatro modalidades de distribuição espacial do voto a partir das quais se elegem quatro tipos de representantes para nossas casas legislativas: deputados com votação concentrada e dominante, deputados com base fragmentada e dominante, deputados com votação concentrada e partilhada e deputados com votação fragmentada e partilhada. O texto aponta, por meio da análise de emendas ao orçamento, o incentivo ao distributivismo e a práticas clientelistas decorrentes de propriedades de nosso sistema eleitoral. Correlaciona dados de carreira política às modalidades diversas de distribuição do voto, discrimina as circunscrições eleitorais seguras e avalia, por fim, o retorno eleitoral de práticas distributivas.

Brazil grew 2.4 percent per year on average in the last 25 years-somewhat less than Latin America, a good deal less than the world, far less than the emerging countries of Asia in the same period, and indeed far less than Brazil itself in previous decades. If anything stands out favorably in recent Brazilian experience, it is not growth but stabilization and the successful opening of the economy. The purpose of this paper is more modest. It is limited to setting out the authors' particular view of recent efforts to consolidate democracy in Brazil while controlling inflation and resuming economic growth. At the same time the paper presents, as objectively as possible, some thoughts on the limits but also the relevance of action by political leaders to set a course and circumvent obstacles to that process. Here and there, the paper refers to the experiences of other Latin American countries, especially Argentina, Chile, and Mexico, not to offer a full fledged comparative analysis but merely to note contrasts and similarities that may shed light on the peculiarities of the Brazilian case and suggest themes for a more wide-ranging exchange of views.