Electoral governance in Brazil

Abstract

Electoral governance has increasingly more frequently been the object of study of the comparative politics literature. This article examines the electoral governance institutional model adopted in Brazil and its consequences for political/electoral competition. It is argued herein that Brazils Electoral Justice System, motivated by the institutional design, has ended up becoming one of the main actors of the countrys recent democratic consolidation, being decisive not only with regard to rule adjudication and application, but also to rulemaking. With the purpose of assessing this governance model in action, three important recent rulings by Brazils Electoral Justice System are analysed here: verticalization of the coalitions, reduction in the number of councillors, and party loyalty.