Detribalizing Politics

To the average Brazilian, party politics is about as sensible as alphabet soup: no fewer than 14 machine-controlled parties, each known popularly by its two-or three-letter initials, provide more than enough confusion for any ordinary citizen. Effective action in Congress is chronically hobbled by interparty bickering and mercurial coalitions. "Our politics have not surpassed tribal primitivism," admits Jose Eduardo Kelly, a founder of U.D.N. (National Democratic Union), one of the parties in President Humberto Castello Branco's current coalition.

Last week Castello Branco took a hopeful step toward detribalizing Brazil's politics by signing into law a new electoral code and a tough party reform. The new code is intended to put Brazil's election procedures into coherent form for the first time, banning coalition candidates in mayoral as well as state and federal deputy races so as to reduce confusion. The other reform measure is designed to cut the number of parties down to manageable size and ensure that they have meaningful grass-roots representation.

After the 1966 elections, parties must disband if they have not 1) reorganized and established headquarters in at least eleven (of 22) states, 2) elected twelve federal deputies in at least seven states, and 3) won the votes of at least 3% of the electorate. In all likelihood, the result will be that only the five biggest parties in the country will survive. Such reforms, says a top member of the Electoral Court, "should give a new, more democratic spirit to our parties. They will no longer be run by a clique of six or seven." Given Brazilian politics, that remains to be seen.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.