PART ONE: ON CERTAIN TERMS USED AND ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
First off a distinction must be made between a Block, a Coalition and a Front. All these topics mean different things and all are present at the same time.
A front (in Portuguese “Bancada”) is any sort of political, geographic or socio-economic topic that unites politicians under one grouping. The vagueness of the definition makes it encompass many things. Usually, it is meant in the same way that Americans will refer to an “Ethanol front” in the congress. The North-Eastern Front or the Coffee Front are two examples. However, it can encompass any sort of union between politicians. For instances, any Congressmen in the PT party are basically party of the “PT” Front. A block (see ahead) between Party X and Party Y is the X Y Party front.
A block is a legal legislative entity recognized by Brazilian law. In it, a band of parties that will unite together and act, debate and vote with unanimity.Due to it’s nature, it is very much more binding than a mere alliance between separate parties.
There are three main blocks in the Brazilian Congress:
Total Seats: 513
PSB, PTB, PCdB block – 63 seats or 12.3% of the Congress. Its parties are all moderate to radical leftist parties.
PR, PTdB, PRP,PHS,PTC,PSL block – 44 seats or 8.5% of Congress. This block is a more pragmatic one as it is made of fringe parties; only the PTdB and the PR are parties that, in terms of affiliate size, have some weight to them. Although each party has different ideological agendas, they can be generally grouped under a Centrist/Populist umbrella.
PV, PPS Block – 20 seats or 3.7%. A Green/Left block that is independent from big political players.
And in the Senate:
The Governmental (PT, PMDB, PTB, PP, PSB) Front. Technically speaking, this is not a block. This is the main representative parties of the Government, appointed by the President. This block has a total of 46 seats or 56% of the voting power.
The Government’s Auxiliary Block, (Lead by a member of the PT) PDT, PSB, PCdB, PRB). Not counting the PT, this block has 11 seats or a total of 13.5% of the voting power.
The Majority Block, normally a name given to any party or block that has a simple majority. Since no one has this, the title is nominally given to the largest single party, in this case the PMDB. 19 Seats, 23.4% of the votes.
The Minority block – Party or Block second in number to the Government “block” and is in opposition to this assumes the title. It is formed by the PSDB and the Democrats. 14 seats, 17.2% of the votes.
Of the remaining independent parties – PR, PSD, PSOL, PSC, PV – the total number of seats is 11, or 13.5% of the votes.
Then there is a Coalition. This is a term applies more directly to elections: In a coalition, parties will band together under a single flag and pan votes, supporting each other’s candidates and granting concessions in posts. A candidate with excess votes can “give” the votes he or she doesn’t need to other candidates in his party or Coalition. This happened, in the last election, most notably with the TV Comedian “Tiririca”. Running for PR congressional post and using both a humorous campaign and panning to the disillusionment of the Brazilian populace with its politicians (His slogan was “Vote for me, because it can’t get worse than this”) Francisco Oliveira Silva, his given name, won more votes than anyone else in the Congressional elections: over 1.3 million. This greatly helped his party and its coalition, that being lead by PT and the PMDB, current allies in the government. There is a correlation between coalitions becoming alliances after the elections, but it is not set in stone, especially in the state level, and I have therefor refrained from listing coalitions, since saying that they are alliances in the state legislative assemblies could be erroneous.
SUMMARY FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: So in a round-about way The Dilma government is an alliance, arguably loose, between the PT, PMDB, PTB, PSB, PCdB and PP. The designation is a general assumption, since allied politicians, even in the federal sphere (even within Dilma’s own party), will converge or diverge depending on the issue and circumstances (This holds true for all governments in Brazil, really; Federal, State and Municipal).
The PT is dependent, above all else, on the PMDB’s support, without which it will be have lost significant voting power in the Congress and would be outnumbered in the Senate.
PART TWO: ON THE STATE GOVERNMENTS AND THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES
The rest of this document contains the party structure of the state governments and each Legislative Assembly (in pie-graph form with total seats below it). The government political make-up I based on the parties of the Governor and of the Vice-Governor and, if such information was available, the political affiliation of the secretaries under them (note: like a federal minister, it is not necessary for a secretary to have a party affiliation). I have also tried, to the best of my abilities, to list the present alliances and blocks contained in the Legislative branch and the voting power that each has. This proved tricky, since in many cases, information on alliance structure was either non-existent, incomplete or questionable, since terms like “front”(both in the Portuguese word Bancada and Frente), “union”, “alliance” and so forth were used more or less interchangeably. At the very least, I assumed that the parties of the state government were in alliance in the assemblies.
There was the presence of what was called “blocks” in the websites of certain assemblies (and not others). I treated these as the legal definition of blocks that encompass a political unity of parties as one acting body.
Acre
The Government of Acre is formed by the PT and the PP.Governor is Tiao and belongs to PT
Total Seats: 24
PP/PT Governmental Union alliance: 24% of voting power.
Alagoas
The Government is formed between the PSDB/ DEMGovernor is Teotonio Vilela Filho and belongs to PSDB
Total seats: 27
PSDB/DEM Governmental Union: 29.6% of the votes.
Amapá
The Government of Amapá is formed between the PT and the PSBGovernor is Camilo Capiberibe and belongs to PSB
Total seats: 24
PT/PSB Governmental Union: 8% of the votes
Amazonas
The Government of Alagoasor Amazonas which one, the title says Amazonas? is formed between the PMDB and PMN parties, with many secretaries, additionally, belonging to the PT and PCdBThe governor of Amazonas is Omar Aziz and he belongs to PSD.
Total seats: 24
PMN/PMDB Governmental Union: 29% of voting power.
PMN/PMDB/PT/PCdB: 37.5% of voting power.
Bahia
The government of Bahia is formed between the PT and the PPThe governor of Bahia is Jaques Wagner and he belongs to PT
Total of 64 seats.
Blocks:
PSL/PRB/PP – 14% of voting power
PDT/PCdB – 11% of voting power
PSDB/PR – 9.5% of voting power
PSC/PTN/PRP – 9.5% of voting power
PRP/DEM – 6.3% of voting power.
Alliances in the Bahia Assembly and Government are clearly defined by the Assembly website and are as Follows:
PT/PP/PDT/PCdB/PSL/PRB/PSD/PSB/PV: 45 seats, 70% of voting power
PMDB/DEM/PR/PSDB/PRP/PTN/PSC: 19 seats, 30% of voting power
Ceará
The government of Ceará is formed between the PSB and PMDB the governor is Cid Gomes and belongs to PSB.
Total Seats:46
PSB/PT/PMDB block: 39% of the voting power
Distrito Federal
The Government of the Federal District is formed between the PT and the PMDBgovernor is Agnelo Queiroz and he belongs to PT
Total Seats: 24
PT/PMDB Governmental Union: 25% of voting power.
The PT and the PRB also form a legislative bloc, giving them 25% of the vote. Between the PT, PMDB and PRB, this front has 29% of the voting power.
Espirito Santo
The government of Espirito Santo is formed by the PSB and PT with one Secretary of the PMDB in tow. The governor is Renato Casagrande and he belongs to PSB:
Total of 30 seats
PDT/PT/PMDB Government Union: 40% of the voting power.
Goiás
The Government of Goias is formed between the Democrats and the PSDB. The governor is Marconi Perillo and he belongs to PSDB
Total of 41 seats
Democrats and PSDB Governmental Union: 26.8% of voting power.
Maranhão
The Government is formed by the PMDB and the PT.The governor is Roseana Sarney and she belongs to PMDB
Total Seats: 42
PT/PMDB governmental Union: 21% of voting power
Mato Grosso
The Government is composed of the PMDB with secretaries from the PT, PP, and PRthe governor is Silva da Cunha Barbosa and he belongs to PMDB
Total Seats: 24
PMDB/PT/PP/PR – 71% of voting power
Mato Grosso do Sul
The governor is Andre Puccinelli and he belongs to PMDB
Total Seats: 24
PMDB party – 25% of votes.
Minas Gerais
The Government is comprised of the PSDB and PPthe governor is Antonio Anastasia and he belongs to PSDB
Total seats: 78
PSDB/PP government union: 19% of voting power.
Pará
The Government of Pará is formed between the PMDB and PPS.The governor is Simao Jatene and he belongs to PSDB
Total seats: 41
PMDB/PPS: 21% of voting power.
Paraíba
The Government of Paraíba is formed between the PSB and PSD, with secretaries from the PMDB, an allied party.The governor is Ricardo countinho and he belongs to PSB:
Total Seats: 38
PSD/PSB/PMDB: 31% of voting power.
Paraná
The Government is made of the PSDB. The Legislative Assembly contains several blocks.The governor is Beto Richa and he belongs to PSDB.
Total Seats: 55
PSDB: 18% of voting power
PSB/PSC/PRB block: 12.7% of voting power
PP/PV/PTB/PSL block: 10.9% of voting power
PPS/PMN block: 7.2% of voting power
Pernambuco
The Government is formed between the PSB and PDT. The coalition of the governmental elections have remained intact, so the alliance of the PRB/PP/PDT/ PT/PTB/PSC/PR/PSB/PCdBThe governor is Eduardo Campos and he belongs to PSB
Total Seats: 51
PRB/PP/PDT/ PT/PTB/PSC/PR/PSB/PCdB: 58% of voting power.
Piauí
The Government of Piauí is formed between the PSB and PMDB. The governor is Wilson Nunes Martins and he belongs to PSB.
Total Seats: 29
PSB/PMDB: 34.4% of voting power.
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro is Governed by Sergio Cabral, a former PSDB politician turned PMDB. His Vice-Governor, Luiz Fernando de Souza, is also PMDB.The government is allied with the PT and the PPS.
Assembly
Total of 70 seats
PMDB/PT/PPS: 30% of voting power.
Rondônia
The Government of Rondônia is formed between the PMDB and PDT, with secretaries from the PCdB. The governor is Confucio Moura and he belongs to PMDB.
Total Seats: 24
PMDB/PT/PCdB: 29% of voting power.
Rio Grande do Norte
The government of Rio Grande do Norte is formed between the Dem and PMN. In the Assembly, DEM is allied with the PSDB as well.The governor is Rosaiba Ciarlini and she belongs to DEM.
Total Seats: 24
DEM/PSDB/PMN: 33.3% of votes
Rio Grande do Sul
The government of Rio Grande do Sul is formed by the PT and PSB. The PP and the PSDB form a separate alliance in the Assembly.The governor is Tarso Genro and he belongs to PT.
Total Seats: 55
DEM/PTB Governmental Union: 12.7% of voting power.
PP/PSDB: 21% of voting power.
Sergipe
The Government of Sergipe is formed by the PT and the PMDB with secretaries from the PSC.The governor is Marcelo Deda and he belongs to PT
Total Seats: 25
PT/PMDB/PSC – 40% of voting power.
São Paulo
The Government of São Paulo(governor is Geraldo ALckmin and he belongs to PSDB) is made of the PSDB and Democrats, with secretaries of the PSB, PV and PPS.
Total 94
PSDB/DEM/PPS/PSB/PV: 50% of votes.
Tocantins
The Government is formed by the PSDB party and the Democrats. The governor is joaoa wilson siqueira and he belongs to PSDB:
They form a block in the legislative with the PV and the PR is an allied party to theirs, being that some secretaries are from the PR.
Total Seats: 25
PSDB/DEM/PV block: 20% of voting power
PSDB/DEM/PV/PR alliance: 36% of voting power.