University of Miami Law School University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository Articles Faculty and Deans 2005 Federalism in Brazil Keith S. Rosenn University of Miami School of Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/fac_articles Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons Recommended Citation Keith S. Rosenn, Federalism in Brazil, 43 Duq. L. Rev. 577 (2005). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty and Deans at University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by an authorized administrator of University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Federalism in Brazil Keith S. Rosenn* I. INTRODUCTION Unlike in Canada and the United States, where federalism was a technique for uniting states and provinces that had once been autonomous political entities, in Brazil federalism was a technique for dividing what had always been a unitary system of govern- ment.' Unlike her neighboring colonies of Latin America, Brazil followed a unique path that led to independence without war, and to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy that lasted for 67 years. 2 Under the Empire, Brazil had a unitary system of government, divided into twenty provinces. The provinces served as election districts for a National Congress with a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The provinces elected deputies for four-year terms. The Emperor, however, selected the Senators, who would serve life terms, from a list of three names submitted by each province.