1946 Constitution: context and main points

THE 1946 Constitution was enacted on September 18 and was the milestone of Brazil's first democratic experience: the Fourth Republic, also known as the Populist Republic. This Constitution was the result of an effort made in Brazilian politics to implement a more democratic regime.

The 1946 Constitution was considered by historians to be a document that expressed the values ​​of liberalism present in Brazilian politics. It guaranteed democratic principles, but still maintained some conservative aspects, such as the prohibition of voting for the illiterate. This document was replaced in 1967 by the military, who had taken over the country in 1964.

read more: It was Vargas – summary of the 15 years of the presidency of Getúlio Vargas

Context

The 1946 Constitution was result of the overthrow of the new state, an event that took place in October 1945, with the deposition ofGetulio Vargas. The Estado Novo was the dictatorship created by Getúlio Vargas, in the 1930s, and which had strong support from the military. During the Vargas dictatorship there was strong repression, censorship and the use of torture as a political weapon.

From the 1940s, especially with the entry of Brazil in World War II, the air of Brazilian politics changed, and that support Vargas received to impose his authoritarian policy turned into support for the implementation of a politics in more democratic and liberal terms.

The entire international context strongly influenced the option for a democratic and liberal exit to be taken in the country. Vargas sensed this climate and sought to transform his political strategy. Hence the labor, a political ideology aimed at promoting a certain social equality, mediated by a direct dialogue between Vargas and workers.

In 1945, pressure on Vargas was great, and he decided to give space to those who demanded the democratization of Brazil. presidential election called towards the end of 1945, political prisoners of the Estado Novo were amnesty, and permission for the emergence of new partiespoliticians was granted.

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In this scenario, while pressure on Vargas increased, new political parties were created to make political candidacies viable for the presidential election in late 1945.

• O Social Democratic Party (PSD), a center party, emerged from former bureaucrats of the Estado Novo, and launched the candidacy of General Eurico Gaspar Dutra.
• THE UnitydemocraticNational (UDN), in turn, was a conservative party formed by both former allies and former opponents of Vargas, who joined together to stop the political legacy of Vargas. They launched the candidacy of Brigadier Eduardo Gomes.

A movement in support of Getúlio Vargas emerged in 1945 and became known as wantism. The Queremista movement claimed the maintenance of Vargas in the presidency of Brazil, although it agreed with the holding of an election to form a Constituent Assembly. The Querists even held numerous demonstrations in support of the then President.

Military officer Góes Monteiro (right) delivered the ultimatum that forced Vargas' resignation (left) in 1945. [1]

Vargas held a dubious stance about his intentions, and it was not really clear whether or not he would abandon the presidency in the end, because, although he had already announced that he would not run, the opposition was suspicious of his intentions. In October, he named his brother to head the Federal District police. This mobilized the Army, which, through goansMonteiro and EuricoDutra, on October 29, 1945, gave him a ultimatum to leave the presidency.

Alongside this, military troops were mobilized to surround the presidential palace. Vargas reluctantly resigned from the presidency and, the next day, he traveled to his property in Rio Grande do Sul. Therefore, a coupmilitary ousted him from the presidency. José Linhares, president of the Federal Supreme Court, assumed the presidency on an interim basis until the election of a new president.

Assembly of the Fourth Republic

The 1946 Constitution was drawn up by the members of the Constituent Assembly formed after the general elections on December 2, 1945. [1]

With the deposition of Vargas, a new president was elected for Brazil. In the race in 1945, the three candidates were EdwardGomes, EuricoDutra and YedoFiúza, candidate launched by the Communist Party of Brazil (PCB). At the end of the electoral race, Getúlio Vargas and the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB) expressed their support for Eurico Dutra, and he was elected with 55% of the votes.

With the presidential election were held electionsgeneral, on December 2, 1945, which determined new senators and deputiesfederal. Those who were elected formed the constituent Assembly which drafted and promulgated the 1946 Constitution. This Assembly was distributed as follows|1|:

• PSD: 177 chairs;
• UDN: 87 chairs;
• PTB: 24 chairs;
• PCB: 15 chairs;
• Another 17 seats were distributed to small parties at the time.

Also access: How many coups d'etat have there been in Brazil since independence?

Main points of the 1946 Constitution

The 1946 Constitution was the result of the work carried out by the Constituent Assembly. Parliamentarians took office in February 1946, and work on the draft of that Constitution began on March 15th. On September 9, the drafting of the new Constitutional Text was finished, and the voting for its approval was completed on September 17th. THE promulgation of the text was carried out, therefore, in September 18, 1946.

Deputy Gustavo Capanema (PSD-MG) signing the 1946 Constitution. [1]

Regarding the 1946 Constitution, historians Lilia Schwarcz and Heloísa Starling stated that it “has maintained social achievements since 1930s, but it replaced the demand for democracy and the exercise of political rights as unavoidable conditions for public life Brazilian"|2|.

The new Brazilian Constitution reinforced the values ​​of democracy and consolidated the installation of this system for the first time in Brazil. The political system that emerged from this new Charter was based on a systemrepresentative, with elections for positions in all spheres: Union, states and municipalities.

In the case of presidency, the five-year term, without the right to re-election. The one with the most votes in a single round would be elected. The reelection ban also extended to the governorship. Legislative positions (deputies and senators), in turn, would have the right to reelection. Deputies would be in charge of four years, and senators would have a mandate to eightyears old. On the issue of voting, the Constitution guaranteed the right to votesecret.

The liberal character of the 1946 Constitution determined that it had a very well defined delimitation of the limits of each of the threepowers — Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. The document guaranteed political autonomy for the states and granted important rightsindividual, such as freedom of the press and opinion.

In principle, the 1946 Constitution guaranteed freedom to operate unions, but maintained control mechanisms over them (from the government of Eurico Dutra, a law that increased the State's repression of unions was created). The Charter expanded the population's rights, recognizing education for all and guaranteeing access to the vote, although there were limitations in this regard.

readmore: Constitution of 1891 – the details of the first republican constitution of Brazil

Negative points

On the issue of voting, the right was extended to all Brazilian citizens (universal suffrage) over 18 years of age, but the conservative character of the majority of constituents determined that illiterate were excluded and did not have access to it. Despite this, there was some expansion of this right.

The 1946 Constitution, although understood as a democratic document, had its limitations and it did not fully meet the growing popular demands at the time. THE land reform it became unfeasible because the document defined its realization only through cash compensation. This issue was one of the great problems of the Fourth Republic and was a reason for crisis in the government of João Goulart.

other problems of this Constitution were demonstrated by Lilia Schwarcz and Heloísa Starling|3|:

• It recognized the right to strike, but determined that its regulation be through a future law;
• It did not incorporate rural workers into labor rights;
• It allowed the military to intervene in Brazilian politics.

This Constitution was in effect until 1964. Like Civil-Military Coup of 1964, the document was suspended for six months, through the AI-1, and then officially replaced by the I constitutedtution granted in 1967.

Grades

|1| WALNUT, Octaciano. The 1946 Constitution. Getulio, the learned subject. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2005. P. 553.

|2| SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and STARLING, Heloísa Murgel. Brazil: a biography. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015. P. 396.

|3| Idem, p. 397.

Image credits

[1]FGV/CPDOC

By Daniel Neves Silva
History teacher