Federal Senate (Brazil)

The Federal Senate (Portuguese: Senado Federal) is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. When created under the Imperial Constitution in 1824, it was based on the House of Lords of the British Parliament, but since the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 and under the first republican Constitution the Federal Senate has resembled the United States Senate.

The current president of the Federal Senate is Davi Alcolumbre, a member of UNIÃO from Amapá. He was re-elected in February 2025 for his two-year non-consecutive term, as he had already led the Senate between 2019-21 during Bolsonaro's government.

Membership

The Senate has 81 members, serving an eight-year term of office. There are three senators from each of the country's 27 federative units, the Federal District and the 26 states. Elections are staggered so that either one-third or two-thirds of senators in each federative unit are up for election every four years. The most recent election took place in 2022, where one-third of the Senate was elected.

Elections are held under the first-past-the-post and block voting systems. In years when a third of members are up for election, voters can cast only one vote and the candidate who receives a plurality of votes within their state is elected. In years when two-thirds of members are up for election, voters can cast two votes. People can not vote for the same candidate twice, but each party can field up to two candidates in each state. The two highest-placed candidates in each state are elected.

History

The Federal Senate of Brazil was established as the Imperial Senate by the Constitution of 1824, first enacted after the Declaration of Independence. It was modelled on the House of Lords of the British Parliament.

Following independence, in 1822, Emperor Pedro I ordered the convocation of a Assembleia Geral Constituinte e Legislativa (Legislative and Constituent General Assembly) to draft the country's first Constitution. Following several disagreements with the elected deputies (which included representatives from present-day Uruguay, then part of the Brazilian Empire under the name of Província Cisplatina), the Emperor dissolved the Assembly. In 1824, Pedro I implemented the first Constitution which established a legislative branch with the Chamber of Deputies as the lower house, and the Senate as an upper house.

The first configuration of the Senate was a consulting body to the Emperor. Membership was for life and it was a place of great prestige, to which only a small part of the population could aspire. The original Senate had 50 members, representing all of the Empire's provinces, each with a number of senators proportional to its population. In addition to these elected senators, daughters and sons of the Emperor aged at least 25 were senators by right.

The elected members of the Senate had to be at least 40 years old and have an annual income of 800,000 contos-de-réis, which limited candidates to wealthy citizens. Voters also faced an income qualification. Voting in an election for the Senate was limited to male citizens with an annual income of at least 200,000 contos-de-réis. Those who qualified for this did not vote directly for senators; instead, they voted for candidates to be Senate electors. To be a Senate elector required an annual income of 400,000 contos-de-réis. Once elected, these electors would then vote for senator. The election itself would not result in a winner automatically. The three candidates receiving the most votes would make up what was called a triple list, from which the Emperor would select one individual that would be considered elected. The Emperor usually chose the candidate with the most votes, but it was within his discretion to select whichever of the three individuals listed.

Following the adoption of the 1824 Constitution, the first session of the Senate took place in May 1826. The Emperor had repeatedly delayed calling the first election, which had led to accusations that he would attempt to establish an absolutist government.

The Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 ended the Brazilian Empire in favor of the First Republic. The 1891 Constitution was then adopted, transforming Brazil's provinces into states and the Senate into an elected body. This was retained under later constitutions, including the current 1988 Constitution. Now known as the Federal Senate, it resembles the United States Senate in that each state has the same number of senators.

• Palácio Conde dos Arcos, seat of the Imperial Senate in Rio de Janeiro, then Brazil's capital.
• The Imperial Senate in session, 1888
• Palácio Monroe, second seat of the Senate.
• The Federal Senate in the National Congress building in Brasília, capital city of Brazil since 1960.
• Exterior view of the Senate chamber.

Presiding Board

The current composition of the Mesa Diretora (Presiding Board) of the Federal Senate is as follows:

Composition

The current composition of the Senate (57th Legislature) is as follows:

Current senators

Standing committees

See also

• Federal institutions of Brazil
• Portal e-Cidadania
• TV Senado

Notes

External links

• of the Brazilian Senate (archived 15 June 2014)
• (in Portuguese)
• List of all Brazilian senators (1826–2011) (in Portuguese)

15°47′59″S 47°51′51″W/15.79972°S 47.86417°W/ -15.79972; -47.86417