This article seeks to address the question of how the Federal Senate acts in approving the appointment of authorities to lead diplomatic missions and to determine if the decision-making process on foreign policy is similar to the handling of other matters. It therefore aims to contribute to the debate about the action of lawmakers in the foreign policy decision-making process in Brazil and in the understanding of the elements that influence the approval process of authorities by the Federal Senate. To do so, it gathers statistics on the elements that influence the results of voting on authorities, measured in terms of the time taken for approval and the rate of favorable votes, and specifically the appointment of chiefs of permanent diplomatic missions. The article’s results point to a similar pattern of legislative supervision for foreign policy and other public policies. These corroborate the article’s filiation with legislative trends, according to which party rivalries set the tone for the relationships between Executive and Legislative Powers in Brazilian presidentialism. Although approval of diplomatic authorities displays specific characteristics, such as the presence of lengthy approval cases, they remained aligned with the pattern observed in other cases of senatorial deliberation.

Abstract Foreign policy’s role in promoting a country’s development is a matter of great importance for understanding its national trajectory, especially in the case of an emerging country. This article aims to analyse lines of action of foreign policy that help emerging countries’ development. In order to do so, it has as its main hypothesis that six lines of action work together towards that goal: (a) trade promotion; (b) investment policy; (c) economic, financial, and commercial negotiations; (d) resource exploration rights; (e) international co-operation; and (f) international projection. To verify their applicability, it analyses the cases of two emerging countries, Brazil and Turkey.

Resumo: O presente estudo analisa a participação política de mulheres na América Latina a partir da presença delas nos legislativos nacionais. São privilegiados fatores institucionais, destacadamente duas variáveis: existência ou não de cotas de gênero e formato de lista eleitoral (aberta ou fechada). Objetiva-se responder se a combinação de lista fechada e existência de cotas potencializa a eleição de mulheres nas câmaras baixas ou únicas de 14 países latino-americanos. São levantados dados históricos da presença de mulheres, os quais permitiram agrupar os casos em três conjuntos, posteriormente analisados de forma qualitativa. O estudo permitiu confirmar a hipótese do efeito cumulativo, tendo os países que apresentam as duas variáveis demonstrado os melhores resultados; ao mesmo tempo, questioná-la, em parte, ao identificar países como o Equador, o qual está entre os que possuem maior porcentagem e apresenta somente uma das variáveis.

Abstract: The present article analyzes women political participation in Latin America through their presence in national legislative chambers. Institutional elements are privileged, focusing on two variables: presence or absence of gender quotas and electoral (open or closed) list system. It aims to answer whether the combination of closed list system and quotas existence potentiates women election to the 14 Latin American lower or sole legislative chambers. Historical data on women's presence were analyzed, allowing for the creation of three groups, which were later analyzed qualitatively. The study allowed us to confirm the hypothesis on the cumulative effect as the countries with both variables showed the best results; and, at the same time, question it partially, by identifying countries such as Ecuador, which is among the ones with the greatest percentages and shows only one of the variables.

Estudos sobre a influência do Congresso Nacional na política externa brasileira são pouco frequentes, algo que deve ser revisto à luz dos debates sobre as relações executivo-legislativo. O presente artigo se voltará para estudar tal interação, especialmente para o padrão de comportamento do Congresso Nacional na aprovação de tratados, principal instrumento de influência legislativa sobre a política externa brasileira. Com o intuito de permitir um estudo aprofundado do tema, o artigo revisará a bibliografia nacional e internacional sobre atuação congressual em política externa e analisará os projetos de decreto legislativo deliberados no Congresso Nacional no período de 1990 a 2014.

Studies on National Congress' influence on the Brazilian foreign policy are unusual, but this to be reconsidered bearing in mind the debates on executive and legislative relations. This article will tackle this interaction, especially the National Congress behavioral pattern regarding the approval of international treaties and acts, bearing in mind that this is the main legislative instrument to influence Brazilian foreign policy. Aiming to allow for a thorough study on the matter, the article will conduct a revision of national and international bibliography on congressional influence in foreign policy and will analyze legislative decree projects that were deliberated by the Congress during the 1990-2014 period.