Factionalism, Intraparty Divides and Decision Capacity during the 1946 Brazilian Democratic Period

ABSTRACT

Literature points to factionalism as the norm of the party system during the democratic period that started in 1946 in Brazil, in which ad hocparliamentary coalitions assumedly governed. The purpose of this article is to question the impact of political-ideological divides in the Legislative by means of the examination of votes in the Federal Chamber from the liberal instauration until the end of the regime. These votes show how uncommon it was for the government to require outside help to approve its agenda. We will show that only during the Vargas and Kubitschek administrations did contributions from the opposition become capital in the approval of presidential programs, being that Vargas relied more on this aid. The hypothesis developed is that governmental success in general depended on the strategic use of the quorum verification, a procedural rule capable of exposing publicly the division of forces on the floor so as to enable the coordination of the coalition in power.

Brazilian democracy; 1946; factions; legislative forces; party coalitions