EXECUTIVE-LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS IN BRAZIL: IS 2009 THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES?

Abstract

In evaluating the year of 2009 in Brazilian politics, this article focuses on what was the main political event of the year: the reform of Congress' Provisional Measures (MPVs) evaluation procedures. Through a very peculiar instrument of institutional reform, Michel Temer, President of the Chamber of Deputies, offered an alternative interpretation for the existing rule regarding the blockage of the legislative agenda (sobrestamento de pauta) by Provisional Measures. The new interpretation, also partially backed by the Supreme Court, may have affected the Executive Branch's use of Provisional Measures dramatically, reducing its reliance on MPVs as a policymaking instrument. In order to test this hypothesis, the article examines the patterns of MPV use before and after President Temer's new interpretation, contrasting the years of 2008 and 2009. Empirical evidence indicates, albeit still in preliminary fashion, that the reform did affect the Executive Branch's impetus to issue new Provisional Measures.