Suchergebnisse

This paper analyzes the proposals under discussion in the Brazilian Congress concerning the direct elections for Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur), originally planned to be held on 2014. The proposed rules are investigated in order to find out which changes may impact the profile of the new representation to be elected and the consequences by either strengthening or weakening the institutional role of Brazilian representation in Parlasur. Pending electoral legislation for Parlasur may represent the most important experiment in political reform in the country in recent years - changing the open list of candidates to the closed list (with strict party nomination), prohibiting party coalitions, establishing exclusive public financing of campaigns, besides rules targeting gender equality. Notwithstanding, if members of congress do not strengthen reform to provide a more robust institutional framework, Brazilian representation in Parlasur will be weakened rather than strengthened.

El tema de mayor destaque en 2010 fueron las elecciones presidenciales. El éxito de la coalición liderada por el PT debe ser comprendido en un contexto de evaluación positiva del gobierno anterior y de optimismo con respecto al futuro. El análisis del primer año de gestión de Dilma Rousseff muestra que el nuevo gobierno se ha caracterizado más por la continuidad que por la innovación, tanto en términos de los actores que participan del gobierno como en términos de políticas públicas. Este texto argumenta que dicha continuidad es producto de una clara estrategia presidencial, pero también es fruto de un complejo escenario económico y político que dificultó que se hicieran cambios más profundos en 2011. _______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT ; "The most prominent issue in Brazilian politics in 2010 was the Presidential election. The sucess of the PT-led coalition should be understood in the context of a positive evaluation of the outgoing administration, and of optimism with respect to the future. The analysis of the first year of Dilma Rousseff's government shows that it has been characterized more by continuity than by innovation, both in terms of the actors that participate in it as well as in terms of the contents of public policies. This article argues that this continuity has resulted not only from a clear Presidential strategy, but also from a complex economic and political scenario, which has made it harder to implement big changes in 2011".