Distribuição de poder na Casa da Federação : composição das comissões permanentes do Senado Federal entre 1999 e 2006

Abstract

This thesis presents Brazil Federal Senate’s benches between 1999 and 2006 (during the 51st and 52nd Legislatures), analyzing the social background (socio-occupational position) and the political careers of Senators and their substitutes. Studying the association between these variables with parties (segmented by the ideological matrix on the left-center-right scale), it was shown that there were three recruitment profiles (legal, majoritarian and Worker’s Party members), while the absolute majority of parties had politicians with medium to high political experience. Discussing the neo institutionalism matrix for the study of parliamentary committees and its little applicability to the Brazilian case, bringing the field of political sociology to study these thematic collegiate bodies, the strands were structured to analyze parties’ nominations to permanent committees in the Federal Senate throughout the interim, making use of the same variables that showed the Senate Floor with a cohesive profile, except for occasional partisan discrepancies. The association and interdependence tests applied showed greater validity of social background in relation to political careers as variables to understand appointments to thematic committees, while the rotation between politicians by chairing committees and by positions on the board of directors of the Federal Senate, lead to understand the positions of power in the House of the Federation as means of sharing political power among Senators.