The politics of electoral reform: why did the 55th legislature of the Brazilian National Congress (2015-2019) voted twice the same electoral reform proposals?

Abstract

During the course of the 55th Legislature of the National Congress of Brazil (2015-2019), a rather curious fact occurred. The same legislature voted twice on a set of proposals to reform the electoral legislation that included, among many others, a suggestion to change the electoral system. Some of these proposals were, strictly speaking, the same on both occasions, while others were slightly different. What was surprising, however, was the fact that the same group of politicians brought to vote a set of propositions on which they had already voted just over a year before, even though the issue was extremely complex and difficult to pass. Why was this legislature so committed to the issue of political reform? And what differences can we observe between the two votes? Using the process tracing method, this article aims to examine the electoral reform process in Brazil, focusing on the 55th legislature. The results emphasize the need to extend the analytical scope of the actors involved in electoral reforms. In Brazil, professional politicians dominated and the main challenge was to identify whether party logic or individual interests prevailed.