Chamber of Deputies (Brazil)
The Chamber of Deputies (Portuguese: Câmara dos Deputados) is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year terms. The current President of the Chamber is the Deputy Arthur Lira (PP-AL), who was elected on 1 February 2021.
Chamber of Deputies Câmara dos Deputados | |
|---|---|
| 56th Legislature of the National Congress | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
Term limits | None |
| History | |
| Founded | 6 May 1826 |
New session started | 2 February 2022 |
| Leadership | |
Government Leader | |
Majority Leader | |
Opposition Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 513 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (236)[1]
Confidence and supply (98) Opposition (189)[1] |
Length of term | 4 years |
| Salary | R$ 33,763 monthly (and benefits)[2] |
| Elections | |
| Open list proportional representation (D'Hondt method) with a 2% election threshold[3] | |
Last election | 7 October 2018 |
Next election | 2 October 2022 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Ulysses Guimarães plenary chamber National Congress building Brasília, Federal District, Brazil | |
| Website | |
| www | |
 |
|---|
 Brazil portal |
Structure
The number of deputies elected is proportional to the size of the population of the respective state (or of the Federal District) as of 1994. However, no delegation can be made up of less than eight or more than seventy seats. Thus the least populous state elects eight federal deputies and the most populous elects seventy. These restrictions favour the smaller states at the expense of the more populous states and so the size of the delegations is not exactly proportional to population.
Elections to the Chamber of Deputies are held every four years, with all seats up for election.
Federal representation
A census held each 10 years by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics is used as the basis for the distribution of the seats. Proportionality is followed as a principle, with the exception that there should be a minimum of eight (8) members and a maximum of seventy (70) members per state. Per the 2010 census, states with 3,258,117 inhabitants upwards have 9 to 70 deputies.
As a result, although most states hover around an average of 362,013 inhabitants by deputy (per the 2010 census), some states with smaller populations have a much lower average, such as Roraima (1 for 51,000 inhabitants). On the other hand, São Paulo stands out as disadvantaged by the cap. The city itself elects 31 deputies representing 11,253,503 inhabitants,[4] while the remainder of the state elect 39 deputies representing 28,670,588 inhabitants (1 for 585,000). In a proportional distribution São Paulo city and state would send 110 MPs instead of 70. However, the other states' disadvantages are negligible.[5]
| Federal state | Deputies alloted | % | Population (2010 Census) | % | Representativeness (population by deputy) | Would-be number of deputies in a proportional allotment |
Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| São Paulo | 70 | 13.6% | 39,924,091 | 21.5% | 570,344 | 110 | +40 |
| Minas Gerais | 53 | 10.3% | 19,159,260 | 10.3% | 361,495 | 53 | 0 |
| Rio de Janeiro | 46 | 9% | 15,180,636 | 8.2% | 330,014 | 42 | -4 |
| Bahia | 39 | 7.6% | 13,633,969 | 7.3% | 349,589 | 38 | -1 |
| Rio Grande do Sul | 31 | 6% | 10,576,758 | 5.7% | 341,186 | 29 | -2 |
| Paraná | 30 | 5.8% | 10,226,737 | 5.5% | 340,891 | 28 | -2 |
| Pernambuco | 25 | 4.9% | 8,541,250 | 4.6% | 341,650 | 24 | -1 |
| Ceará | 22 | 4.3% | 8,450,527 | 4.4% | 371,822 | 23 | +1 |
| Maranhão | 18 | 3.5% | 6,424,340 | 3.5% | 356,908 | 18 | 0 |
| Goiás | 17 | 3.3% | 5,849,105 | 3.1% | 344,065 | 16 | -1 |
| Pará | 17 | 3.3% | 7,443,904 | 4.0% | 437,877 | 21 | +4 |
| Santa Catarina | 16 | 3.1% | 6,178,603 | 3.3% | 386,163 | 17 | +1 |
| Paraíba | 12 | 2.3% | 3,753,633 | 2.0% | 312,803 | 10 | -2 |
| Espírito Santo | 10 | 1.9% | 3,392,775 | 1.8% | 339,278 | 9 | -1 |
| Piauí | 10 | 1.9% | 3,086,448 | 1.7% | 308,645 | 9 | -1 |
| Alagoas | 9 | 1.7% | 3,093,994 | 1.7% | 343,777 | 9 | 0 |
| Acre | 8 | 1.6% | 707,125 | 0.4% | 88,391 | 2 | -6 |
| Amazonas | 8 | 1.6% | 3,350,773 | 1.8% | 418,847 | 9 | +1 |
| Amapá | 8 | 1.6% | 648,553 | 0.3% | 81,069 | 2 | -6 |
| Distrito Federal | 8 | 1.6% | 2,469,489 | 1.3% | 308,686 | 7 | -1 |
| Mato Grosso do Sul | 8 | 1.6% | 2,404,256 | 1.3% | 300,532 | 7 | -1 |
| Mato Grosso | 8 | 1.6% | 2,954,625 | 1.6% | 369,328 | 8 | 0 |
| Rio Grande do Norte | 8 | 1.6% | 3,121,451 | 1.7% | 390,181 | 9 | +1 |
| Rondônia | 8 | 1.6% | 1,535,625 | 0.8% | 191,953 | 4 | -4 |
| Roraima | 8 | 1.6% | 425,398 | 0.2% | 53,175 | 1 | -7 |
| Sergipe | 8 | 1.6% | 2,036,227 | 1.1% | 254,528 | 6 | -2 |
| Tocantins | 8 | 1.6% | 1,373,551 | 0.7% | 171,694 | 4 | -4 |
| Total | 513 | 100% | 185,712,713 | 100% | 362,013 | 514 | +1 |
Present composition
| Party | Floor leader | Seats | % of seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Liberal | Vitor Hugo | 53 | 10.33% | |
| Workers | Bohn Gass | 52 | 10.14% | |
| Liberal | Wellington Roberto | 42 | 8.19% | |
| Progressistas | Cacá Leão | 40 | 7.80% | |
| Social Democratic | Antonio Brito | 35 | 6.82% | |
| Brazilian Democratic Movement | Isnaldo Bulhões Jr. | 34 | 6.63% | |
| Brazilian Social Democracy | Rodrigo de Castro | 32 | 6.43% | |
| Republicanos | Hugo Motta | 32 | 6.43% | |
| Brazilian Socialist | Danilo Cabral | 30 | 5.85% | |
| Democrats | Efraim Filho | 29 | 5.65% | |
| Democratic Labour | Wolney Queiroz | 26 | 5.07% | |
| Solidariedade | Lucas Vergílio | 14 | 2.73% | |
| Brazilian Labour | Nivaldo Albuquerque | 11 | 2.14% | |
| Republican Party of the Social Order | Wagner Gomes | 11 | 2.14% | |
| Podemos | Igor Timo | 10 | 1.95% | |
| Social Christian | Aluisio Mendes | 10 | 1.95% | |
| Socialism and Liberty | Talíria Petrone | 10 | 1.95% | |
| Avante | Luis Tibé | 8 | 1.56% | |
| Cidadania | Arnaldo Jardim | 8 | 1.56% | |
| New | Vinicius Poit | 8 | 1.56% | |
| Communist Party of Brazil | Renildo Calheiros | 7 | 1.36% | |
| Patriota | Fred Costa | 6 | 1.17% | |
| Green | Enrico Misasi | 4 | 0.78% | |
| Sustainability Network | Joênia Wapixana | 1 | 0.20% | |
| Total | 513 | 100.0% | ||
Partisan blocs composition
Partisan bloc leadership is organized into the following roles:
- Government Leader: elected by members of the party of the Cabinet in the Chamber to speak on behalf of the cabinet
- Majority Leader: elected by the leaders of the majority bloc in the Chamber, usually in support of the Cabinet
- Opposition Leader: elected by the members of the largest party in opposition to the Cabinet
- Minority Leader: elected by the leaders of the minority bloc, usually in opposition to the Cabinet
| Bloc | Deputies | Leader |
|---|---|---|
| Government | 226 | Ricardo Barros (PP) |
| Majority | – | Diego Andrade (PSD) |
| Opposition | 197 | Wolney Queiroz (PDT) |
| Minority | – | Alencar Santana (PT) |
| PSC, PTB Bloc | 22 | Aluisio Mendes (PSC) |
Bodies
The House of Deputies is composed of the Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil by College Leaders and the Commissions, which can be permanent, temporary, or special inquiry.
Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil
The current composition of the Board of the Chamber of Deputies is the following:
President: Arthur Lira (PP-AL)
1st Vice President: Marcelo Ramos (PSD-AM)
2nd Vice President: André de Paula (PSD-PE)
1st Secretary: Luciano Bivar (UNIÃO-PE)
2nd Secretary: Marilia Arraes (PT-PE)
3rd Secretary: Rose Modesto (PSDB-MS)
4th Secretary: Rosângela Gomes (Republicanos-RJ)
1st Secretary Substitute: Eduardo Bismarck (PDT-CE)
2nd Secretary Substitute: Gilberto Nascimento (PSC-SP)
3rd Secretary Substitute: Alexandre Leite (UNIÃO-SP)
4th Secretary Substitute: Cássio Andrade (PSB-PA)
Standing committees
On 6 March 2012, was defined division of committees between parties. The House President, Marco Maia, believes that the proportionality between the parties / blocs must take into account the data of the last election. Thus, PT and PMDB, with the highest benches, were three committees (the PT made the choice first). DEM and PSDB, the two largest opposition, were two commissions each.[6] On the other hand, PSD, most harmed by this decision, filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court (STF) trying to reverse this decision.[7]
The chair of the committee, was defined as follows:[8]
| Committee | Chair |
|---|---|
| Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development | Fernando Giacobo (PL-PR) |
| Consumer Defence | Silvio Costa Filho (Republicanos-PE) |
| Constitution, Justice and Citizenship | Arthur Oliveira Maia (União-BA) |
| Culture | Rosa Neide (PT-MT) |
| Defense of Women Rights | Katia Sastre (PL-SP) |
| Defense of Elderly Rights | Denis Bezerra (PSB-CE) |
| Defense of People with Disabilities Rights | Rejane Dias (PT-PI) |
| Economic Development, Industry, Trade and Services | Sidney Leite (PSD-AM) |
| Education | Kim Kataguiri (UNIÃO-SP) |
| Environment and Sustainable Development | Covatti Filho (PP-RS) |
| Ethics and Parliamentary Decorum | Pauli Azi (UNIÃO-BA) |
| Finances and Taxation | Marco Bertaiolli (PSD-SP) |
| Financial Oversight and Control | Paulinho da Força (Solidariedade-SP) |
| Foreign Affairs and National Defence | Pedro Vilela (PSDB-AL) |
| Human Rights and Minorities | Orlando Silva (PCdoB-SP) |
| Labour, Administration and Public Service | Leônidas Cristino (PDT-CE) |
| Mines and Energy | Fabio Schiochet (União-SC) |
| National Integration, Regional Development and Amazon | João Daniel (PT-SE) |
| Participative Legislation | Pedro Uczai (PT-SC) |
| Public Security and Fight Against Organized Crime | Aluisio Mendes (PSC-MA) |
| Roads and Transports | Carlos Chiodini (MDB-SC) |
| Science and Technology, Communication and Computing | Milton Coelho (PSB-PE) |
| Social Security and Family | Antõnio Pinheiro (PP-MG) |
| Sports | Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE) |
| Tourism | João Carlos Bacelar (PODE-BA) |
| Urban Development | José Priante (MDB-PA) |
See also
Notes
References
- "A configuração da Câmara após a investida de Bolsonaro". Câmara (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- "Conheça o valor do salário de um deputado e demais verbas parlamentares - Notícias". Chamber of Deputies of Brazil (in Brazilian Portuguese). 5 October 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
- "Com dura cláusula de barreira, metade das siglas corre risco de acabar". O Tempo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 12 July 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- "IBGE Censo 2010". www.censo2010.ibge.gov.br. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
- "Gasto com deputados caminha para R$ 1 bilhão". uol.com.br. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
- Finch, Nathalia (6 March 2012), G1,
defines the distribution of the standing committees
{{citation}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - Santos, Deborah (27 February 2012), G1,
going to have the Supreme Command of committees in the House
{{citation}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - "Definidos os partidos dos presidentes das comissões; veja os nomes já indicados". Câmara dos Deputados (in Portuguese). 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.