Chamber of Deputies (Brazil)
Chamber of Deputies Câmara dos Deputados | |
|---|---|
| 57th Legislature of the National Congress | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
Term limits | None |
| History | |
| Founded | 6 May 1826 |
New session started | 1 February 2023 |
| Leadership | |
Government Leader | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
Opposition Leader | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 513 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (182)
Opposition (119) Independents (212) |
Length of term | 4 years |
| Salary | R$ 39,293 monthly (and benefits)[1] |
| Elections | |
| Open list proportional representation (D'Hondt method) with a 2% election threshold[2] | |
Last election | 2 October 2022 |
Next election | 4 October 2026 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Ulysses Guimarães plenary chamber National Congress building Brasília, Federal District, Brazil | |
| Website | |
| www | |
| This article is part of a series on the |
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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.
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 every 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).
| Federal state | Deputies currently allotted | % | Population (2010 Census) | % | Population per deputy | Deputies in proportional allotment | Difference (actual−proportional) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | –2 |
Present composition
| Party | Floor leader | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Party | Altineu Côrtes | 98 | |
| Brazil of Hope Federation | Zeca Dirceu | 81 | |
| Brazil Union | Elmar Nascimento | 59 | |
| Progressives | André Fufuca | 49 | |
| Brazilian Democratic Movement | Isnaldo Bulhões Junior | 43 | |
| Social Democratic Party | Antonio Brito | 43 | |
| Republicans | Hugo Motta | 41 | |
| PSDB Citizenship Federation | Adolfo Viana | 18 | |
| Democratic Labour Party | André Figueiredo | 18 | |
| Brazilian Socialist Party | Felipe Carreras | 15 | |
| We Can | Fábio Macedo | 15 | |
| PSOL REDE Federation | Guilherme Boulos | 14 | |
| Forward | Luis Tibé | 7 | |
| Patriot | Fred Costa | 5 | |
| Solidarity | Aureo Ribeiro | 4 | |
| New Party | Adriana Ventura | 3 | |
| Total | 513 | ||
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 | 182 | José Guimarães (PT-CE) |
| Majority | – | Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB) |
| Opposition | 119 | Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ) |
| Minority | – | Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) |
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: Marcos Pereira (Republicanos-SP)
2nd Vice President: Sóstenes Cavalcante (PL-RJ)
1st Secretary: Luciano Bivar (UNIÃO-PE)
2nd Secretary: Maria do Rosário (PT-RS)
3rd Secretary: Júlio Cesar (PSD-PI)
4th Secretary: Lucio Mosquini (MDB-RO)
1st Substitute: Gilberto Nascimento (PSC-SP)
2nd Substitute: Pompeo de Mattos (PDT-RS)
3rd Substitute: Beto Pereira (PSDB-MS)
4th Substitute: André Ferreira (PL-PE)
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.[3] On the other hand, PSD, most harmed by this decision, filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court (STF) trying to reverse this decision.[4]
The chair of the committee, was defined as follows:[5]
| Committee | Chair |
|---|---|
| Administration and Public Service | Bruno Farias (Avante-MG) |
| Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development | Tião Medeiros (PP-PR) |
| Amazon and Originary and Traditional People | Célia Xakriabá (PSOL-MG) |
| Communication | Amaro Neto (Republicanos-ES) |
| Consumer Defence | Jorge Braz (Republicanos-RJ) |
| Constitution, Justice and Citizenship | Rui Falcão (PT-SP) |
| Culture | Marcelo Queiroz (PP-RJ) |
| Defense of Women Rights | Lêda Borges (PSDB-GO) |
| Defense of Elderly Rights | Aliel Machado (PV-PR) |
| Defense of People with Disabilities Rights | Márcio Jerry (PCdoB-MA) |
| Economic Development | Félix Mendonça Júnior (PDT-BA) |
| Education | Moses Rodrigues (UNIÃO-CE) |
| Environment and Sustainable Development | José Priante (MDB-PA) |
| Ethics and Parliamentary Decorum | Leur Lomanto Júnior (UNIÃO-BA) |
| Finances and Taxation | Paulo Guedes (PT-MG) |
| Financial Oversight and Control | Bia Kicis (PL-DF) |
| Foreign Affairs and National Defence | Paulo Barbosa (PSDB-SP) |
| Health | José Vitor Aguiar (PL-MG) |
| Human Rights, Minorities and Racial Equality | Luizianne Lins (PT-MA) |
| Industry, Trade and Services | Heitor Shuch (PSB-RS) |
| Labour | Airton Faleiro (PT-PA) |
| Mines and Energy | Rodrigo de Castro (UNIÃO-MG) |
| National Integration and Regional Development | Fabio Garcia (UNIÃO-MT) |
| Participative Legislation | José Silva Soares (Solidariedade-MG) |
| Public Security and Fight Against Organized Crime | Ubiratan Sanderson (PL-RS) |
| Roads and Transports | Cezar Freire (PSD-SP) |
| Science, Technology and Innovation | Luisa Canziani (PSD-PR) |
| Social Security, Social Assistance, Childhood, Adolescence and Family | Fernando Rodolfo (PL-PE) |
| Sports | Luiz Lima (PL-RJ) |
| Tourism | Romero Rodrigues (PSC-PB) |
| Urban Development | Acácio Favacho (MDB-AP) |
See also
References
- "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.
- "Gastos parlamentares - 2023". Câmara dos Deputados (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 March 2023.
- Finch, Nathalia (6 March 2012), G1, "defines the distribution of the standing committees"
- Santos, Deborah (27 February 2012), G1, "going to have the Supreme Command of committees in the House"
- "Definidos os partidos dos presidentes das comissões; veja os nomes já indicados". Câmara dos Deputados (in Portuguese). 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.