List of political parties in Brazil

Brazil has a multi-party system since 1979, when the country's military dictatorship disbanded an enforced two-party system and allowed the creation of multiple parties.^[1]

Above the broad range of political parties in Brazilian Congress, the Workers' Party (PT), the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), the Liberal Party (PL), the Progressives (PP) and the Brazil Union (UNIÃO) together control the absolute majority of seats in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.^[2] Smaller parties often make alliances with at least one of these five major parties.^[3] The number of political parties reached 35 on its apex on 2018, 30 of which were represented in congress after the 2018 Brazilian general election.^[4][5][6] However, an electoral threshold introduced on 2017 has resulted in the culling and merger of many parties, as it cuts access to party subsidies and free party political broadcasts.^[4][7]

Brazilian parties have access to party subsidies in form of the Fundo Partidário (lit. 'Party Fund') and the Fundo Eleitoral (lit. 'Electoral Fund') for elections.^[8] And a system of free party political broadcasts during election time known as the horário eleitoral gratuito.^[9]

Since 1982, Brazilian political parties have been given an electoral number to make it easier for illiterate people to vote. Initially, it was a one-digit number: 1 for PDS, 2 for PDT, 3 for PT, 4 for PTB, and 5 for PMDB. When it became clear that there was going to be more than nine parties, two-digit numbers were assigned, with the first five parties having a "1" added to their former one-digit number (PDS becoming number 11, PDT 12, PT 13, PTB 14, and PMDB 15). Political parties often change their names; however, they can retain their number.

Active political parties

Parties represented in the National Congress

Party		Abbr.	No.	Leader	Deputies^[10]	Senators^[11]	State deputies^[12]	Ideology	Position
	Liberal Party Partido Liberal	PL	22	Valdemar Costa Neto	95 / 513	13 / 81	129 / 1,024	Right-wing populism	Right-wing to far-right
	Workers' Party Partido dos Trabalhadores	PT	13	Gleisi Hoffmann	68 / 513	8 / 81	118 / 1,024	Social democracy	Centre-left
	Brazil Union União Brasil	União	44	Antônio Rueda	58 / 513	7 / 81	100 / 1,024	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right
	Progressives Progressistas	PP	11	Ciro Nogueira	50 / 513	6 / 81	87 / 1,024	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right
	Social Democratic Party Partido Social Democrático	PSD	55	Gilberto Kassab	44 / 513	15 / 81	78 / 1,024	Big tent	Centre to centre-right
	Brazilian Democratic Movement Movimento Democrático Brasileiro	MDB	15	Baleia Rossi	44 / 513	11 / 81	95 / 1,024	Big tent	Centre to centre-right
	Republicans Republicanos	—	10	Marcos Pereira	43 / 513	4 / 81	76 / 1,024	Conservatism	Centre-right to right-wing
	Democratic Labour Party Partido Democrático Trabalhista	PDT	12	André Figueiredo	18 / 513	3 / 81	43 / 1,024	Labourism	Centre-left
	We Can Podemos	Pode	20	Renata Abreu	15 / 513	7 / 81	48 / 1,024	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right
	Brazilian Socialist Party Partido Socialista Brasileiro	PSB	40	Carlos Siqueira	14 / 513	4 / 81	54 / 1,024	Social democracy	Centre-left
	Brazilian Social Democracy Party Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira	PSDB	45	Marconi Perillo	13 / 513	1 / 81	54 / 1,024	Liberalism	Centre
	Socialism and Liberty Party Partido Socialismo e Liberdade	PSOL	50	Paula Coradi	13 / 513	0 / 81	22 / 1,024	Socialism	Left-wing to far-left
	Communist Party of Brazil Partido Comunista do Brasil	PCdoB	65	Luciana Santos	7 / 513	0 / 81	18 / 1,024	Communism	Left-wing to far-left
	Forward Avante	—	70	Luis Tibé	7 / 513	0 / 81	14 / 1,024	Centrism	Centre
	Solidarity Solidariedade	—	77	Euripedes Júnior	5 / 513	0 / 81	28 / 1,024	Humanism	Centre
	Democratic Renewal Party Partido Renovação Democrática	PRD	25	Ovasco Resende	5 / 513	0 / 81	25 / 1,024	Right-wing populism	Right-wing to far-right
	Green Party Partido Verde	PV	43	José Luiz Penna	5 / 513	0 / 81	20 / 1,024	Green politics	Centre-left
	Citizenship Cidadania	—	23	Comte Bittencourt	4 / 513	0 / 81	17 / 1,024	Social liberalism	Centre
	New Party Partido Novo	Novo	30	Eduardo Ribeiro	3 / 513	1 / 81	5 / 1,024	Classical liberalism	Right-wing
	Sustainability Network Rede Sustentabilidade	Rede	18	Heloísa Helena	1 / 513	0 / 81	6 / 1,024	Green politics	Centre-left

Extra-parliamentary parties

Party		Abbr.	No.	Leader	State deputies^[12]	Mayors^[13]	Councillors^[14]	Ideology	Position
	Brazilian Labour Renewal Party Partido Renovador Trabalhista Brasileiro	PRTB	28	Leonardo Araújo	7 / 1,024	6 / 5,568	214 / 58,208	Right-wing populism	Right-wing to far-right
	National Mobilization Mobilização Nacional	Mobiliza	33	Antonio Massarollo	6 / 1,024	13 / 5,568	200 / 58,208	Nationalism	Centre-right
	Act Agir	—	36	Daniel Tourinho	5 / 1,024	1 / 5,568	218 / 58,208	Autistic people's interests	Centre
	Brazilian Woman's Party Partido da Mulher Brasileira	PMB	35	Suêd Haidar	3 / 1,024	1 / 5,568	48 / 58,208	Social conservatism	Right-wing
	Christian Democracy Democracia Cristã	DC	27	José Maria Eymael	1 / 1,024	2 / 5,568	124 / 58,208	Christian democracy	Centre-right
	Brazilian Communist Party Partido Comunista Brasileiro	PCB	21	Edmilson Costa	0 / 1,024	0 / 5,568	0 / 58,208	Marxism-Leninism	Far-left
	Popular Unity Unidade Popular	UP	80	Leo Péricles	0 / 1,024	0 / 5,568	0 / 58,208	Revolutionary socialism	Far-left
	United Socialist Workers' Party Partido Socialista dos Trabalhadores Unificado	PSTU	16	Zé Maria	0 / 1,024	0 / 5,568	0 / 58,208	Trotskyism	Far-left
	Workers' Cause Party Partido da Causa Operária	PCO	29	Rui Costa Pimenta	0 / 1,024	0 / 5,568	0 / 58,208	Trotskyism	Far-left

Historical parties

Imperial Brazil

• Liberal Party (1831–1889)
• Farroupilha Party [pt] (1832–1845)
• Conservative Party (1836–1889)
• Progressive League (1864–1868)

First Republic and Vargas Era

• Republican Party of São Paulo (1873–1937)
• Rio-grandense Republican Party (1882–1937)
• Republican Party of Minas Gerais (1888–1937)
• Fluminense Republican Party (1888–1937)
• Federalist Party [pt] (1892–1928)
• Federal Republican Party (1893–1897)
• Conservative Republican Party (1910–1915)
• Workers' and Peasants' Bloc [pt] (1927–1930)
• Liberator Party (1928–1937; 1945–1965)
• Brazilian Black Front (1931–1938)
• Brazilian Integralist Action (1932–1937)
• Brazilian Socialist Party [pt] (1932–1937)

Fourth Republic

• National Democratic Union (1945–1965)
• Brazilian Labour Party (1945–1965)
• Orienting Labour Party (1945–1951)
• Christian Democratic Party [pt] (1945–1965)
• Social Democratic Party (1945–1965)
• Republican Party (1945–1965)
• Progressive Republican Party [pt] (1945–1946)
• National Agrarian Party [pt] (1945–1946)
• Popular Representation Party (1945–1965)
• Popular Syndicalist Party (1945–1946)
• National Labor Party (1945–1965)
• Social Progressive Party (1946–1965)
• Social Labour Party [pt] (1946–1965)
• Brazilian Socialist Party (1947–1965)
• Labour Republican Party [pt] (1948–1965)
• Renewal Labour Movement [pt] (1960–1965)

Military Dictatorship and Sixth Republic

• National Renewal Alliance (1966–1979)
• Popular Party [pt] (1979–1982)
• Democratic Social Party (1980–1993)
• Brazilian Labour Party (1981–2023)
• Democrats (1985–2022)
• Brazilian People's Party [pt] (1985–1990)
• Christian Democratic Party [pt] (1985–1993)
• Social Christian Party (1985–2023)
• Brazilian Municipalist Party [pt] (1985–1989)
• Liberal Party (1985–2006)
• Renewal Labour Party (1985–1993)
• Social Democratic Party (1987–2003)
• Progressive Republican Party (1988–2019)
• Retirees' National Party of Brazil (1988–1990)
• Social Labour Party (1988–1993; 1993–2003)
• Party of the Christian Democracy of Brazil (1989–1990)
• Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (1989–2006)
• Progressive Party (1993–1995)
• Reform Progressive Party (1993–1995)
• Workers' General Party (1993–2003)
• Social Liberal Party (1994–2022)
• Humanist Party of Solidarity (1995–2019)
• Party of the Nation's Retirees (1995–2006)
• Free Fatherland Party (2009–2019)
• Republican Party of the Social Order (2010–2023)
• Patriota (2011–2023)

See also

• Lists of political parties; categories by country and ideology.
• Liberalism in Brazil

References

1. Sousa, Ana Cristina Augusto de; Silva, Lays Correa da (6 August 2021). "Redemocratização no Brasil: continuidade ou ruptura?". Topoi (Rio de Janeiro) (in Portuguese). 22 (47): 570–575. doi:10.1590/2237-101X02204713. ISSN 1518-3319. S2CID 238849517.
2. Freedom House report on Brazil, 2007
3. . tse.jus.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
4. "Número de partidos na Câmara deve cair após ápice da fragmentação em 2018". Poder360 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 24 February 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
5. "Brasil tem 75 partidos políticos em processo de formação".^{[permanent dead link]}
6. "Brasil vai às urnas em outubro com 35 partidos". Senado Federal (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 16 October 2022.
7. "Perspectiva é de fusão entre partidos". Valor Econômico (in Brazilian Portuguese). 4 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
8. Fundo Partidário (estudo) 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine. Por Miriam Campelo de Melo Amorim. Brasília: Biblioteca Digital da Câmara dos Deputados, outubro de 2005.
9. "L9504". www.planalto.gov.br. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
10. "Bancadas atuais da Câmara dos Deputados". Chamber of Deputies. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
11. "Senadores em Exercício". Federal Senate. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
12. "Raio-X das eleições: Leia como serão as assembleias em 2023". Poder360 (in Portuguese). 11 October 2022.
13. "Relembre quantos prefeitos e vereadores cada partido elegeu em 2020". Poder360 (in Portuguese). 6 October 2023.
14. "Vereadores eleitos por partido em 2020". Poder360.