How popular initiatives work in Brazil

[soniya55531]

The promulgation of the Federal Constitution in Brazil, in 1988, brought significant advances to the country, especially in terms of building democracy and new ways of exercising the right to citizenship.


By consolidating itself as a Democratic State of Law, Brazil has enabled society to express its ideas and effectively participate in political life. Although this movement is commonly illustrated by the institution of the right to vote, the forms of social participation are much more comprehensive and encompass other mechanisms established by the Constitution, such as direct participation through referendums, plebiscites and popular initiatives, also governed by Law No. 9,709/98.


Unlike a plebiscite, when a public consultation is opened on a given subject nepal mobile database before the National Congress drafts a Bill on the subject, and a referendum, a process of consulting society after the drafting of a Bill, which seeks to obtain the “sanction” of the population, a popular initiative originates from the voice of the citizen, that is, the common citizen is allowed to trigger a legislative process without the direct intervention of a representative.


In this way, popular initiative allows society to directly influence important everyday issues by submitting a Bill for consideration by the Legislative Branch.


The Brazilian popular initiative and its processing process
Reserving to society the right to propose new laws for the country, the Federal Constitution establishes guidelines for this process by establishing requirements for the development of popular initiatives at federal, state and municipal levels.


At the federal level, the initiative can be exercised through a Bill sent to the Chamber of Deputies, signed by at least one percent of the national electorate, distributed across at least five units of the federation and with no less than three tenths of a percent of the voters of each of them. In practical terms, for the project to reach Congress, it is necessary to obtain around 1.5 million signatures.


For proposals in municipalities, the Constitution establishes a minimum subscription of five percent of the city's electorate. At the state and district levels, the requirements for submitting Bills are formalized by the Constitution of each State and by the Organic Law of the Federal District.