Bicameral Politics: The Dynamics of Lawmaking in Brazil

What accounts for legislative capacity? Legislative capacity is the efficiency and effectiveness of the executive and legislative branches in lawmaking. Much literature in political science has addressed this important question. I join the discussion by examining the impact of bicameralism on legislative capacity and outcomes. I argue that bicameralism affects legislative capacity but its effects are conditioned by the location of preferences, inter-chamber bargaining, and legislative rules. Using Brazil as a case, I uncover the ways in which the inter-chamber interplays and their interaction with the executive influence legislative processes and their outcomes. First, an event history analysis of Brazilian legislative data (1988-2004) examines legislative approval and rejection as well as their timing. Next, I conduct case studies of key legislative issues in post-authoritarian Brazil (pension reform, presidential decree authority, gun control, and political reform). Evidence provides support for the arguments of this dissertation