Prime Minister of Brazil

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thumb|The_Duke of Caxias, was the foremost and most remembered Prime Minister of Brazil, having served three terms.]

During two periods in the political history of Brazil was a parliamentary system of Government put in place, with a prime minister heading the Cabinet.

The first parliamentary system was created by Emperor Pedro II and was maintained for the last forty two years of the imperial period.

The second occasion in which a parliamentary system was put in place was during the administration of President João Goulart in 1961, due to a constitutional amendment passed by his opponents before his inauguration. The experience of parliamentary government was very brief, as the system of presidential government was restored in a referendum in 1963.

Prime Ministers of the Brazilian Empire (1847-1889)

The political position of Prime Minister of Brazil existed during the era of the Brazilian Empire, first being created in 1847, during the reign of Dom Pedro II.

Officially, the title of the Prime Minister was President of the Council of Ministers and he was referred to by the press and the people as "President of the Cabinet".

The written Constitution of the Brazilian Empire did not require the Emperor to appoint a prime minister; nor did it provide for a parliamentary system of government, instead vesting the Executive authority in the Emperor himself, and stipulating that the Emperor was to be aided by ministers that he was free to appoint and dismiss. However, Emperor Pedro II decided to appoint a president of the Council among his ministers, to lead the workings of the Government. He also chose to create a sort of parliamentary government, whereby the prime minister would be someone who could command a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower House of the Brazilian Imperial Parliament, known as General Assembly. Therefore, even without being required by the Constitution, the Emperor started to exercise his authority in a manner compatible with parliamentary government, only appointing as prime minister someone who could retain parliamentary support, etc.

However, the emperor didn't become a figurehead monarch like other heads of State in a parliamentary system. The prime minister needed to retain the political confidence both of a majority of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Emperor, who actively scrutinized the workings of the Government. Sometimes the Emperor would dissolve the Chamber of Deputies and summon new elections (a power he possessed under the Constitution), or dismiss the prime minister, due to his own political beliefs about the efficiency of the Government. Thus, the Emperor would often dismiss a prime minister, and then appoint someone else from the same party. All this led to a succession of shortlived Cabinets. The emperor retained decisionmaking powers with regard to the signature or veto of bills passed by Parliament, and would not always abide by the advice of his ministers. And that was seen as normal given that the monarch wasn't required by the Constitution to reign in a parliamentary system, and the establishment of one was only a limited and voluntary decision of Pedro II.

Therefore, the parliamentary system voluntarily established by Emperor Pedro II wasn't identical to the standard of a parliamentary government with a Head of State that reigns but does not govern, given that the Emperor retained part of the control over the daily affairs of his government.

Thus, the parliamentary system that was put in place in the reign of Pedro II can be termed a semi-imperial Government, and can be compared to the political system of some republics, such as France, that are governed under a semi-presidential system, in which the Head of State has more than just the customary reserve powers, but there is also a prime minister who needs to maintain the confidence of Parliament in order to retain his office.

This co-existence of a Head of State with real powers and influence with a prime minister responsible before Parliament was dubbed by many Brazilian political scientists as "parlamentarismo às avessas" (flopped parliamentarism), a criticism corresponding to their view that, in the parliamentary system created by Emperor Pedro II, the Chamber of Deputies was the weaker party, constantly being dissolved, and the survival of the Cabinet depended more on the confidence of the Emperor than in that of Parliament.

The position of Prime minister was abolished with the deposition of the monarchy in 1889. The newly installed government choose the republican presidential system, and did not adopt a parliamentary governemnt, except for a brief period (September 8 1961 to January 24 1963) during the government of President João Goulart. The parliamentary system was again abolished, this time by plebiscite, in January 1963.

List of Prime Ministers of the Brazilian Empire

List of Prime Ministers of the Republic of Brazil