History

 

The Brazilian Legislative Branch is conducted by the National Congress, which is composed of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. In order to learn a little more about the history of the second House, it’s necessary to go back to our independence, from the establishment of the Republic and its successive overhauls to the current days.
Even before becoming a Republic, Brazil already had a Chamber of Senators, an institution that was preserved by the first Republican Constitution, and named as Federal Senate. Its existence sets the Federation mark, in which the balance among the constituent units is sought.
Composed of representatives of the states and the Federal District, who are chosen through majority vote, it is different from the Chamber of Deputies, whose members are elected through the proportional system.  While the number of deputies may vary according to the size of the state’s population, each one of the units of the Federation equitably elects three senators.
The name comes from the Latin word “Senatus”, which is the House composed of elderly men, leaders of the patricians, who had a central role within the Roman Empire.   The importance of such institution in the Ancient World can be observed by the acronym displayed on the Roman Legions’s flags - SQPR, which stands for something like “The Senate and the People of Rome”, that is, the Senatus was the core of the formal power. The modern Republican tradition preserves the idea that the Senate is composed of the most experienced people, since a citizen must be at least 35 years old in order to run for the office of senator.
Nowadays, the Federal Senate is composed of 81 senators, coming from the 26 states and the Federal District, to serve for an eight-year term. However, the renewal of the composition of this House is made according to the duration of the legislatures, which is four years. Therefore, at each election either one third or two thirds of members are elected, in elections that happen simultaneously with the elections for president, governors, federal and state deputies and deputies of the Federal District.
The Senate’s responsibilities, its composition and characteristics are provided for in all the constitutions Brazil has had to date, in the Standing Rules of the Federal Senate and in the Joint Standing Rules of the Congress.
Rui Barbosa is deemed as the patron of the Senate and the Plenary Hall honors him by displaying his bust. This is due to his prominance in Parliament, his visibility, devotion to public life, great international prestige, and to his being the rapporteur of the Brazilian Civil Code.

The Brazilian Legislative Branch is conducted by the National Congress, which is composed of the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate. In order to learn a little more about the history of the second House, it’s necessary to go back to our independence, from the establishment of the Republic and its successive overhauls to the current days.
Even before becoming a Republic, Brazil already had a Chamber of Senators, an institution that was preserved by the first Republican Constitution, and named as Federal Senate. Its existence sets the Federation mark, in which the balance among the constituent units is sought.
Composed of representatives of the states and the Federal District, who are chosen through majority vote, it is different from the Chamber of Deputies, whose members are elected through the proportional system.  While the number of deputies may vary according to the size of the state’s population, each one of the units of the Federation equitably elects three senators.
The name comes from the Latin word “Senatus”, which is the House composed of elderly men, leaders of the patricians, who had a central role within the Roman Empire.   The importance of such institution in the Ancient World can be observed by the acronym displayed on the Roman Legions’s flags - SQPR, which stands for something like “The Senate and the People of Rome”, that is, the Senatus was the core of the formal power. The modern Republican tradition preserves the idea that the Senate is composed of the most experienced people, since a citizen must be at least 35 years old in order to run for the office of senator.
Nowadays, the Federal Senate is composed of 81 senators, coming from the 26 states and the Federal District, to serve for an eight-year term. However, the renewal of the composition of this House is made according to the duration of the legislatures, which is four years. Therefore, at each election either one third or two thirds of members are elected, in elections that happen simultaneously with the elections for president, governors, federal and state deputies and deputies of the Federal District.
The Senate’s responsibilities, its composition and characteristics are provided for in all the constitutions Brazil has had to date, in the Standing Rules of the Federal Senate and in the Joint Standing Rules of the Congress.
Rui Barbosa is deemed as the patron of the Senate and the Plenary Hall honors him by displaying his bust. This is due to his prominance in Parliament, his visibility, devotion to public life, great international prestige, and to his being the rapporteur of the Brazilian Civil Code.

 

 

The Senate of the Empire

The Senate in the Republic period

The Senate in the New Republic

The current Senate

Seats of the Senate