Confirmation: the Federal Senate’s Place in the Brazilian Foreign Policy of the New Republic

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the Federal Senate’s role in the field of Brazilian Foreign Policy, debating the thesis of a supposed “abdication”. Based on the literature on the “microdynamics” in the Executive-Legislative relationship and the “practice of consulting or foretelling of preferences”, we observe the confirmation process of political appointment of ambassadors throughout the New Republic. In methodological terms, we took two paths: i) quantitative, analyzing all confirmations from 1988 to 2019; and ii) qualitative, through two case studies: the rejection of Guilherme Patriota and the “non-appointment” of Eduardo Bolsonaro, to signal a potential research agenda within this area. The results obtained suggest the various ways in which political differences between the Senate and the President of the Republic can be, and effectively are, expressed.

Brazilian foreign policy; the presidency of the Republic; National Congress; Federal Senate; nominations