THE Chamber of Deputies is part of the National Congress and is where deputies federal and districts carry out their work. It is one of the legislative houses that make up the Legislative Power of Brazil (the Federal Senate is the other house). is headquartered in Brasilia, capital of Brazil.
Its members are elected by popular vote, and elections are based on proportionality. Altogether, the Chamber of Deputies is made up of 513 deputies and deputies, and these seats are distributed according to the population of the Brazilian states.
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Topics in this article
- 1 - Summary about the Chamber of Deputies
- 2 - What is the Chamber of Deputies?
- 3 - How are the members of the Chamber of Deputies elected?
- 4 - Role of the Chamber of Deputies
- 5 - Composition of the Chamber of Deputies
Summary about the Chamber of Deputies
It is one of the legislative houses that make up the Legislative Power of Brazil.
It is located at Praça dos Três Poderes, in Brasília.
It is made up of 513 deputies, and the seats are distributed according to the population of the Brazilian states.
Its function is to legislate and supervise the work of the Executive.
The election of its members follows the proportional criterion.
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What is the Chamber of Deputies?
The Chamber of Deputies is the place that hosts the work of the deputies and deputies federal and district, being one of the houses that form the Legislative Power of Brazil. It is located inside the building that forms the National Congress, which has the two houses that make up the Legislative branch of Brazil at the federal level.
In addition to the Chamber of Deputies, the Legislative Power of Brazil is also formed by the Senate, and both houses operate at the federal level. The Chamber of Deputiesis located at Praça dos Três Poderes, in Brasília., capital of our country. It is occupied by 513 deputies and deputies elected by the Brazilian population.
The distribution of these vacancies is based on a proportional criterion, which stipulates the number of vacancies in the states and the Federal District based on the population of each place. Therefore, the distribution of vacancies, until the year 2022, was as follows:
state |
Number of deputies |
Acre |
8 |
alagoas |
9 |
amazon |
8 |
amapá |
8 |
Bahia |
39 |
Ceará |
22 |
Federal District |
8 |
Holy Spirit |
10 |
Goiás |
17 |
maranhão |
18 |
Minas Gerais |
53 |
Mato Grosso |
8 |
Mato Grosso do Sul |
8 |
For |
17 |
Paraíba |
12 |
Pernambuco |
25 |
Piauí |
10 |
Paraná |
30 |
Rio de Janeiro |
46 |
large northern river |
8 |
Rio Grande do Sul |
31 |
Rondônia |
8 |
Roraima |
8 |
Santa Catarina |
16 |
Sergipe |
8 |
Sao Paulo |
70 |
Tocantins |
8 |
Through the table, we can see that São Paulo is the state that most elects deputies, with 70 in total, while a number of states plus the Federal District share the position as the ones that elect less deputies, eight for each in the total. This distribution of vacancies is reorganized at each election, always according to the number of inhabitants in those places.
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How are members of the Chamber of Deputies elected?
We have seen that deputies and deputies are those who work in the Chamber of Deputies and that their choice is made through the public participation in the election. The election that determines the composition of the Chamber of Deputies is held every four years and takes place with the election that defines senators and senators, deputies and deputies state, governors or governors, and president of the republic.
This election defines, therefore, the 513 new deputies and deputies of Brazil, always remembering that a federal deputy may try re-elect to the role as many times as you want. The system used to elect new deputies is different from what happens in the Executive Branch elections.
For the Chamber of Deputies, the proportional system, which establishes the electoral quotient. Through this criterion, political parties need to win legislative seats based on the total votes received. As soon as a party wins legislative seats, they are distributed to its most voted candidates.
If the party does not reach the electoral quotient, its candidates are not elected, even if they obtain a significant vote. This means that candidates with less votes can be elected to occupy a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. It is enough for your party to reach the electoral quotient, defined by the number of votes divided by the number of seats.
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Role of the Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies, as the place that hosts the work of federal deputies and deputies, has the same functions as its members. Therefore, deputies, as representatives of the population, must ensure the preservation of the interests of the population and actr legislating and supervising the Executive.
The Chamber of Deputies has as one of its functions the act of legislating, that is, propose and debate bills. This is one of the main functions of federal deputies, as they must propose projects that meet and bring benefits to the population, and, when they are not preparing a bill, their role is to analyze and debate other bills proposed by colleagues From home.
In addition, members of the Chamber of Deputies must supervise the Executive, therefore, as they operate at the federal level, they must oversee the president gives republic and the ministers of state. In this sense, government officials may be called upon to provide clarification; denouncements can be made by deputies; government accounts and acts can be investigated; and, ultimately, members of the Chamber of Deputies can convene a process of impeachment to remove the president and vice president.
In general, bills approved in the Chamber of Deputies are forwarded for consideration, review and possible approval in the Senate. The same goes for the impeachment process, because, as soon as it is approved in the Chamber of Deputies, it is sent so that the senators can vote on the issue.
Composition of the Chamber of Deputies
In this text, we saw that the Chamber of Deputies is formed by 513 deputies and deputies, but it is not limited to the Plenary, where part of the discussions and votes take place. Within the Chamber, there are, for example, committees. These are basically small committees that bring together a group of deputies to analyze bills in specific areas.
They exist standing committeess and some temporary, and some of them can be mixed and have the participation of both members of the Chamber of Deputies and members of the Senate. Many of the bills in our country are passed directly by the commissions.
In addition, the Chamber of Deputies has other committees, such as the Ethics Council, and the legislative work is led by a Board of Directors, which commands debates and votes in the Plenary, for example. That Board of Directors is formed by:
president;
1st vice president;
2nd vice president;
1st secretary;
2nd secretary;
3rd secretary;
4th secretary;
1st alternate;
2nd alternate;
3rd alternate;
4th alternate.
image credits
[1] Alexandre Siqueirathe and shutterstock
by Daniel Neves
History teacher
