Another Brazil Essay Research Paper Brazil National — страница 2

executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. The executive branch is headed by the President under whom are several executive departments and independent regulatory agencies. The appointed heads of the executive departments form the Cabinet. The legislative branch, the Congress is made up of the elected Senate and the House of Representatives. The judicial branch consists of a system of federal, state, and local courts throughout the country, headed by the Supreme Court. There are many political parties, but ideologies are not well developed as a democratic system returned only in 1985. Parties normally represent specific economic groups and interests within the country. After the industrialization resulting in fierce inflation and foreign debt, Brazil went through a period of

military autocratic regime through 1964 to 1989, until the first popularly elected president since 1960, Fernado Collor de Mello. Although the chance of the military having a coup is slim, they still remain a strong political force. President Collor had significant support and vowed on reform on the much needed economic policy. He planned to lower tariffs, control inflation, promote free trade, and reduce the over bloated public sector. However, he resigned in 1992 for charges of corruption. His successor, former vice-president Itamar Franco was seen as indecisive in economic matters. He chose to make increasing growth as his first priority instead of reducing inflation. Despite of a already huge deficit, he tried to stimulate growth by increasing government spending. The current

president, Fernardo Henrique Cardoso was Franco’s finance minister. He pushed through a stabilization program which included significant economic liberalization and income tax increase. He managed to lower inflation and federal deficit by introducing the Real Plan. Now, he is pushing the Constitution review which vows to privatize state-run monopolies and redistribute tax revenues. Luis Inacio Da Silva(Lula), leader of the Workers Party(PT) was the second runner-up in the two most recent presidential elections. His socialist philosophy stresses social justice, restraints on market capitalism, limits to integration with the world economy, debt relief, and a larger state role. He represents the left wing of the Brazilian politics which is growing in importance. Meanwhile, pressed

by the public outcry for better public services, President Cardoso announced that of his $500 billion planned spending for 1996-99, two-thirds would be embarked for social services such as education and housing. However, Mr. Cardoso disappointed western observers by allocating two-thirds of the social spending to welfare payments. Since 71% of the population is Roman Catholic, the Brazilian Church has traditionally had great influence in the political scene. In recent years, Vatican has strengthened controls over the Church, making it more conservative. However, the Church still remains a left-of-center social action wing which excises influence on voting results. The Brazilian Church is closely related to the poorer and express sympathies for the PT. With the return of

democratic election, the recent political turmoil seems to be ended. However, President Cardoso would still have to face an over represented Congress from the poorer northern regions, and one who greatly hinders the progress of the Constitution Amendments on behalf of their protégés-local business and powerful. However, given the first-year success of the real, President Cardoso should have more power in advancing his economic reform. Economic Growth Brazil is the tenth largest economy in the world. Its economy grew considerably from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1970s. However, during the 1980s, economic performance faltered; macro-economic instability, high inflation, and increased indebtedness characterized the decade.(See Table 4) Under the recent economic reform, growth

has been restored and inflation has been reduced.(See Table 5) The major challenges facing Brazil now is to maintain growth and control inflation, . National Values and Ideology People Brazil is a very mixed and culturally diverse country. Brazilians are viewed as passionate, open, and patriotic especially when it comes to soccer in the eyes of the western world. Throughout various stages of the history, such as the struggle for independence, for the Republic, and the recent parade against violence in Rio de Janeiro, , the ideas of liberation and optimism are always there in the background. However, they are also conservative especially when related to religion. Like other cultures in the tropical, Brazilians are leisure oriented. The working day is normally eight hours, Monday