Draft Bills on Minority Candidacies: Men are the majority of authors of proposals that roll back women’s political participation

By: FGV Direito Rio. 

 

• According to the analysis carried out in the report, encompassing 92 Bills and Constitutional Amendment Proposals (PECs), 41.30% of them focus on the reservation of seats based on gender, while 29.36% address campaign financing. Political violence is the subject of circa 15% of the proposals. Additionally, proposals regarding recognition and campaign financing/reserved seats based on gender account for 6.52% of the initiatives. 
• Out of a total of 71 proposals concerning the reserve of positions and campaign financing, 49 seek to advance current legislation, 19 aim to roll back legislation, and 5 maintain the existing legislation regarding gender and race.
• Concerning the gender of the proposing parliamentarians, there is an almost equal distribution, with 54.5% of the projects proposed by men and 45.5% by women. However, a qualitative analysis of the draft bills reveals that, out of the 71 proposals on the topics of reserve of positions and campaign financing, male parliamentarians were the authors of the majority (15) of the proposals that aim to roll back current legislation. 
• Circa 47% of the total proposals by parliamentarians are from the left-wing spectrum, 27% are from the right, and 26% are from parties considered as from the center.

Introduction

Under discussion in the National Congress, the Proposed Constitutional Amendment (PEC) 09/2023, known as the "Amnesty PEC," has gained attention due to its potential negative impact on minority candidacies, particularly those of women. The amendment seeks to limit the enforcement of sanctions on political parties that failed to meet requirements for minority representation, specifically in the allocation of the minimum funds from the party fund based on gender and race. The proposal is justified by invoking the principle of "party self-determination" in shaping internal party policies, but this represents a significant setback for minority representation in politics. 

Brazil, especially when compared to its Latin American neighbors, continues to lag in promoting political equality. Most advances have been achieved through direct actions of the Supreme Federal Court and the Superior Electoral Court. In a political context marked by deep inequality, proposals like this are unfortunately not new.

In this report, we have mapped legislative proposals under consideration in the Chamber of Deputies as of July 16, 2024, that address key issues such as gender-based political violence, campaign financing, and seat reservation. Our primary goal was to identify which projects were being discussed and their main characteristics.

Methodology

• Through the Chamber of Deputies' "Fale Conosco" system, we requested access to all legislative proposals under consideration as of July 16, 2024, addressing the following topics: (i) seat reservations based on gender and/or race; (ii) campaign financing; and (iii) gender-based political violence.
• In response, we received a total of 109 propositions related to these topics, categorized as follows: 89 Draft Bills (PL), nine Complementary Bills (PLP), five Proposed Constitutional Amendments (PEC), five Resolution Projects (PRC) to amend the Rules of Procedure, and one Legislative Decree Project (PDL) to suspend Executive Branch normative acts. For the first section of this report, we selected all 89 Draft Bills and five Proposed Constitutional Amendments. In the second section, we focused on those addressing campaign financing and seat reservation, comprising 71 proposals.
• We initially classified these proposals based on their primary subject matter. In addition to the categories of (i) reserved seats based on gender, (ii) financing, and (iii) political violence, which corresponded to our request, we introduced a fourth category, (iv) recognition. This category includes projects currently under review that aim to establish commemorative and/or symbolic dates or to promote campaigns related to one of the topics mentioned.
• During our initial review, we excluded two proposals from the sample due to their lack of relevance to the research. Despite containing keywords associated with our topics of interest, their content fell outside the scope of the report. Thus, 92 legislative proposals remained for analysis, comprising 87 Draft Bills and five Proposed Constitutional Amendments.
• In the first part of this report, we provide a general overview of these 92 proposals. The second part delves deeper into the analysis of campaign financing and seat reservation, focusing on 71 proposals that address these issues, including 66 Draft Bills (PL) and five Proposed Constitutional Amendments (PEC).

General metrics on legislative proposals

1. General characteristics

• The qualitative analysis of the main proposals and their attached ones revealed that the attachment of other proposals to the main ones can be a strategy adopted by lawmakers, both to promote the original proposal and to delay its progress.

Graph 1: Timeline of Legislative Amendment Proposals by Topic (2003-2024)

 

Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio 

• The proposals analyzed are classified by the Chamber of Deputies into 13 subjects, as detailed in Graph 2 below.

 

Graph 2: Propositions by theme

 

Source: Chamber of Deputies | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio

• In these classifications, the subjects are grouped into combinations. The most frequent combination is "Human Rights and Minorities; Politics, Parties, and Elections," appearing 35 times, followed by "Politics, Parties, and Elections," which occurs 33 times. The combination "Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure; Human Rights and Minorities; Politics, Parties, and Elections" appears 5 times, while the remaining 14 combinations occur 3 times or fewer.
• Since the thematic classification above does not reflect the primary topics of the analyzed Draft Bills (PLs) and Proposals for Constitutional Amendments (PECs), we established five categories for reclassification: reserved seats, financing, political violence, recognition, and financing/reserved seats. The graph below provides a detailed breakdown of the number of proposals within each of these categories.

 

Graph 3: PLs and PECs Subjects

 

Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio 

 

• Of the total 92 classified Draft Bills (PLs) and Proposals for Constitutional Amendments (PECs), nearly half (41.30%) focus on reserved seats as the main topic. This is followed by campaign financing in 29.36% of the proposals. Political violence is the subject of 16.30% of the projects. The topics of recognition and financing/reserved seats each appear as central in 6.52% of the proposals.
• Based on the summaries of each of the 92 proposals provided by the Chamber of Deputies, we evaluated which provisions and respective regulations were the subject of the proposals. Graph 4 illustrates the distribution of those topics. 

 

Graph 4: Devices subject to change cited in the agendas

 

 

Source: Chamber of Deputies | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio 

• Law No. 9,096/1995 (Political Parties Law) was the main target of the amendment proposals, appearing 30 times. The most frequent aim of these proposals is to modify the provisions concerning the distribution of resources from the Party Fund. 
• Following that, there are projects aimed at amending provisions regarding the allocation of resources and reserved seats, particularly in Law No. 9,504/1997 (Elections Law). Law No. 4,737/1965 (Electoral Code) was also a frequent target of the analyzed legislative proposals, with changes primarily addressing reserved seats for female candidates and political violence based on gender. Both laws appeared 28 and 25 times, respectively. 

II. Who proposes?

• Of the total 92 legislative proposals addressing the topics of reserved seats, financing, political violence, and recognition active in the Chamber of Deputies, 3 were submitted by the Executive Branch and 1 by the Senate's Political Reform Commission.. 

• The political parties(1) of the authors of the other 88 proposals were analyzed and classified according to their positioning on the political-ideological spectrum, identifying them as "left," "center," or "right."(2) Graph 5 shows the distribution of the parties that can be classified.

 

Graph 5: Political spectrum of the proponent's party

 

 

Source: Chamber of Deputies | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio

• Graph 5 illustrates the political-ideological positioning of the proponents of 88 draft bills, these proposals are proportionally concentrated on the left, accounting for 46.59% of the total. On the right, 27.27% of the projects are located, while 26.14% are from authors affiliated with political parties considered centrist. 
• According to the Superior Electoral Court (3), 29 political parties are officially registered in Brazil. The 88 proposals on reserved seats, financing, political violence, and recognition were submitted for consideration in the Chamber by lawmakers from 23 different parties. The Workers' Party (PT) is the party with the highest number of active proposals at the moment, comprising 22 legislative propositions in the Chamber of Deputies on the researched topics.

• We also assessed the data provided by the Chamber regarding the gender of the proponents of the Draft Bills (PLs) and Proposals for Constitutional Amendments (PECs) to verify the distribution of this characteristic across the political spectra and the four researched topics (reserved seats, financing, political violence, and recognition).

Graph 6: Proposals by gender and political spectrum

 

Source: Chamber of Deputies | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio

• From the analysis of Graph 6, we found that of the 88 proposals for which the gender and political spectrum of the proponents could be mapped, 40 (45.5%) were submitted for consideration in the Chamber by female authors, while 48 (54.5%) were proposed by male authors. The lower number of projects with female proponents reflects the disparity found in the composition of the Chamber of Deputies following the last elections, where only 90 women (17.5%) were elected compared to 423 men (80.5%) (4).
• The distribution of projects among genders within the same political spectrum is somewhat less discrepant. Women and men on the left are responsible for 19 and 22 active proposals in the Chamber, respectively; in the center, there are 10 projects by women and 12 by men; and on the right, there are 11 proposals by women and 14 by men. 

• Graph 7 below shows the link between gender and the theme of the proposal. 

 

Graph 7: Proposals by Gender and Topic

Source: Chamber of Deputies | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio

• Regarding the main topics addressed by the researched legislative proposals and the gender of their proponents, Graph 7 shows a generally similar distribution between proposals submitted by women and men, with more projects submitted by the latter group. For the topic of reserved seats, we found a slightly higher number of proposals made by male lawmakers compared to female lawmakers.

Reserved Seats and Campaign Financing

I. Characteristics of the Legislative Process 

• The main topics related to gender and race that are currently discussed by the ongoing proposals in the Chamber are: (i) reserved seats and (ii) campaign financing. Both subjects appeared as the primary focus in 71 proposals, either individually or in combination. 
• Graph 8 illustrates the current configuration of the legislative process for the Draft Bills (PLs) and Proposals for Constitutional Amendments (PECs), allowing us to observe some clusters, or groupings of proposals through attachment, including those of distinct subjects. 

• The larger circles represent the main legislative proposals, which have other attached proposals. These attached proposals can also have additional attachments. The arrows indicate this grouping among the proposals.

 

Graph 8: Main Proposals and Attached Proposals

Source: Chamber of Deputies | Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio

II. What is at stake in the Chamber of Deputies?

• The current rules for reserved seats and campaign financing for the candidacies of women, Black, mixed-race, and Indigenous individuals in Brazil are established by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and electoral legislation. Law 9,504/1997 (Elections Law), in its Article 10, §3, requires that each party or coalition fills at least 30% and at most 70% of candidacies of each sex for proportional elections. 
• Following the interpretation of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in ADI 5617/2018, the TSE established two resolutions on the subject. Resolution No. 23,607/2019 requires that at least 30% of the resources from the Special Campaign Financing Fund (FEFC) allocated to each party must be applied to the campaigns of female candidates. Resolution No. 23,609/2019, in turn, establishes that political parties must distribute the FEFC resources proportionally to the number of Black (both Black and mixed-race) and white candidates registered in the electoral contest.
• However, even though their justifications focus on gender inequality specifically, not all analyzed proposals aim to expand access for women and Black individuals to legislative positions and campaign financing.

 

Graph 9: Number of Draft Bills in Relation to Current Legislation

 

 

Source: Câmara dos Deputados | Elaboração: FGV Direito Rio 

• Of the total 71 proposals on reserved seats and financing, 49 seek to advance current legislation, 19 aim to roll back legislation, and 5 maintain the current legislation regarding gender and race while proposing other types of legislative changes.

Graph 10: Number of Bills in Relation to Current Legislation by Gender of the Proponent

 

Elaborated by: FGV Direito Rio

• One of the main findings of this research was that the proposals related to the rollback of current legislation were predominantly drafted by male lawmakers. There were 15 proposals made by them aimed at reversing the current rules regarding minority participation in politics, compared to 4 made by female lawmakers. Regarding proposals that do not alter the current scenario, there were 4 proposals made by men versus 1 made by women. In terms of expanding the scope of current rules, women were the majority of proposers (26), while men drafted 21 proposals within this scope. 

 

a. Reserved Seats

• Regarding reserved seats, there are 38 proposals, of which 25 aim to increase political participation, 11 seek to roll back the current rules, and 2 intend to maintain them.

• As we can see in Graph 8, the Bills with the highest number of attached proposals are those that seek to define rules for reserved seats for the candidacies of women and/or Black, mixed-race, or Indigenous individuals. 

• Regarding reserved seats for the candidacies of Black individuals, only one Bill refers to the topic, proposing that voters who choose to vote for a party's list in the elections can decide whether their vote goes to a female candidate or to a Black candidate.
• The main Bill targeted for attachments is PL 4497/2012, which was created to establish a 50% quota of reserved seats for female candidacies in the Federal Legislative Branch.
• PL 4497/2012 has 18 attached bills; of these, 11 aim to advance legislation by increasing the percentage of seats allocated to these candidacies, while 7 seek to roll back legislation, with 1 proposing to eliminate the reserved seats altogether (authored by Deputy Carolina de Toni - PL).
• Under PEC 134/2015, an amendment is proposed to Article 101 of the ADCT to mandate reserved seats in proportional elections at the federal, state, and municipal levels for the next three legislative terms. Other PECs attached to this one establish fixed reservations for women in both houses of Congress. Although the reservation of seats is stipulated, it does not necessarily ensure the actual filling of these positions, and the proposed quotas are lower than the current levels of gender representation in the political landscape. While we recognize a reduction in political participation, it is important to emphasize that this scenario precedes a representation level exceeding 17%.

 

b. Campaign Financing

• Campaign Financing is the second topic targeted for legislative change. We found 27 Bills aimed at defining the rules for the distribution of the Special Campaign Financing Fund (FEFC) for political parties, with the intent of financing the candidacies of women and Black individuals in positions within the Legislative Branch.

• Of the 27 proposals, 19 aim to expand campaign financing for women and Black individuals; 5 seek to roll back current legislation on financing; 2 proposals maintain the existing legislation regarding gender and race; and 1 proposal advances campaign financing for Black candidates while maintaining the current legislation regarding women.
• Specifically regarding Campaign Financing for the candidacies of Black individuals, we found 9 legislative proposals. Of these, 8 aim to expand access to financing, while 1 maintains the current legislation. 
• PL 8350/2015, the main target for attachments, proposes allocating resources from the Party Fund to promote the political participation of Black individuals. We found 8 attached proposals, of which 7 aim to expand access to campaign financing for Black individuals, while 1 seeks to roll back current legislation by introducing a limit of 5% on financing for the candidacies of Black individuals.

 

c. Reserved Seats / Campaign Financing

• In the qualitative analysis of the Draft Bills, we found 6 cases where Reserved Seats and Campaign Financing were addressed simultaneously. In all these instances, the proposals aim to link political parties' compliance with the reserved seat quotas to the percentages of the Party Fund allocated for campaign financing. 

• PL 3563/2008, the main target for attachments, has 15 attached projects. The proposal seeks to amend Article 41-A of the Law on Political Parties to increase the distribution of the party fund to parties that manage to elect at least thirty percent of deputies of each gender. Thus, it finances campaigns through the reservation of seats for women by stipulating a minimum of 30%.
• Regarding PL 3563/2008, of the 15 attached proposals, 9 aim to advance current legislation, particularly by increasing the percentage allocated to the campaigns of female candidates; 3 proposals seek to roll back current legislation by proposing a reduction in the percentage of the FEFC allocated to candidates in their campaigns; 2 maintain the current legislation; and 1 simply includes National Women's Day in Politics in the Bill. 
• Regarding PEC 9/2023, nicknamed the Amnesty PEC, in Graph 8, it is possible to observe that, so far, it has no attached proposals. Its original wording provided that no sanctions would be applied to parties that did not meet the minimum quota for resources or that did not allocate the minimum amounts based on gender and race in the 2022 elections and prior ones. 
• However, during the proceedings in the Chamber of Deputies, the proposal was redesignated with a new title that "imposes on political parties the obligation to allocate financial resources for the candidacies of black and mixed-race individuals," which rolls back current legislation by not establishing any minimum percentage of the FEFC for the candidacies of black individuals. 

 

Elaborated by:

This report was produced by the Diversity & Inclusion Program of FGV Direito Rio (PD&I) and the Center for Technology and Society of FGV Direito Rio (CTS-FGV) as part of the Media and Democracy Project..

 

Authorship:

Yasmin Curzi (Professor at FGV Direito Rio, Coordinator of the Diversity & Inclusion Program and the "Media and Democracy" Project at the Law School)  

Carolina Peterli (Researcher at the Diversity & Inclusion Program of FGV Direito Rio / "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Fernanda Gomes (Researcher at the Diversity & Inclusion Program of FGV Direito Rio / "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Giullia Thomaz (Researcher at the Center for Technology and Society of FGV Direito Rio / "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Hana Mesquita (Researcher at the Diversity & Inclusion Program of FGV Direito Rio / "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Iris Rosa (Researcher at the Diversity & Inclusion Program of FGV Direito Rio / "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Isabella Markendorf Marins (Researcher at the Diversity & Inclusion Program of FGV Direito Rio / "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Lorena Abbas (Researcher at the Diversity & Inclusion Program of FGV Direito Rio / "Media and Democracy" Project)  

Nikolas Carneiro (Researcher at the Diversity & Inclusion Program of FGV Direito Rio / "Media and Democracy" Project)

 

References: 

1.  Some political parties have changed their names over time. To simplify the illustration in Graph 1, proposals created under the old party names were unified under the current nomenclature. Thus, PMDB, now MDB, proposed 2 Bills, combined with 2 from MDB; PRB, now Republicans, proposed 4 Bills, combined with 2 from Republicans. Parties that changed their names but whose current designations did not propose new proposals retained their old names to indicate the temporal context of the proposals. This was the case for PPS, now Cidadania, and PMN, now Mobilização Nacional (MOBILIZA). Additionally, some cited parties were either dissolved or merged with others: DEM merged with PSL to form União Brasil (UNIÃO), while PSC merged with Podemos (PODE).

2.  This classification was supported by the article "Para Entender a Nova Direita Brasileira" by André Borges and Robert Vidigal (2023, p. 7), aiming to establish a fixed position deliberatively for each party.

3. TSE. Superior Electoral Court. Registered Political Parties at TSE. Available at: https://www.tse.jus.br/partidos/partidos-registrados-no-tse. Accessed on: August 5, 2024.

4. CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES. Composition of the Chamber - Deputies who took office on February 1, 2023. Available at: https://www.camara.leg.br/internet/agencia/infograficos-html5/composica…. Accessed on: August 6, 2024.