É indispensável ampliar a democracia representativa

Abstract

It is Essential to Expand Representative Democracy LUIZA ERUNDINA (INTERVIEW) F EDER AL Deputy Luiza Erundina (PSB) received the executive editor of ESTUDOS AVANÇADOS, journalist Marco Antônio Coelho, in her political offi ce in São Paulo, on August 21, 2009, for the following interview. ESTUDOS AVANÇADOS-In your opinion, what are the causes of the crisis in the National Congress? Luiza Erundina-In my view, the principal cause of the crisis of the National Congress is the depletion of the Brazilian political system, which needs to undergo a profound reform. For more than six years, the Chamber of Deputies has discussed a political reform to resolve the structural problems of our system. Unfortunately, a majority of votes has not been secured to approve substantial changes because each parliamentarian reacts contrary to the approval of any proposal that threatens his immediate electoral interests. The party situation is also depleted. Political parties have little signifi cance from a political-ideological perspective. They do not represent, in practice, what their by-laws, programs and their very names express. This generates considerable confusion about the identity of the different parties which, ideologically and politically, are no longer distinct. The only difference that exists is in terms of the position they occupy in relation to the government; in opposition to or support of its initiatives and, even so, always considering the opportunistic interests of each party, or, even, of each of its members. This situation is aggravated by the ethical deviations that have marked the recent history of the Congress and government, which contribute to the loss of legitimacy and credibility of our representatives and consequently to a grave crisis of representation. At the root of all this is the unsuitability of the political system as a whole. For this reason, a political reform cannot be put off that rethinks the Brazilian State: its character; its organizational structure; and that revises the federal pact, in order to achieve greater equilibrium in the distribution of power between the three spheres: municipal, state and federal. Concerning the parties, the problem is not, as is alleged, their large number. But, the lack of a clear defi nition of their ideological commitments and of the political projects that justify the existence of each one and that

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“…55 Torres (1997).. 56 A este respeito, ver Lima (2000). 57 A este respeito ver Erundina (1992). 58 Em 1990, por exemplo, o presidente do Sindicato dos Profissionais de Educação do Ensino Municipal, Claudio Borges Fonseca, era do PC do B.…”

“…CÂMARA ... (1990). 59 Ver Erundina (1992). 60 Sobre o assunto, conferir o documento já citado sobre as experiências de participação no governo petista.…”