This study is about the behavior of Brazilian Congress members, concerning education and health bills from 1988 to 1994. A 817-bills database was built in order to test three hypotheses: whether members of Congress tended to "concentrate" resources as opposed to "spreading" them, a rejected hypothesis; whether there was a connection between "resource-concentrating" action and ideological spectrum; region, both confirmed. The paper also highlights that most bills tended to be submitted in the early years of member’s term; who would be the main beneficiaries of the bills, presenting a link political parties-benefited groups; and the low approval capacity of Brazilian Legislative, while a high veto activity from the Executive body.
Brazilian Legislature; distributist behavior; legislative action; social policies; Executive-Legislative relations
