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.	Leader	Position	Ideology	Deputies^[10]	Senators^[11]
	Liberal Party Partido Liberal	PL	Valdemar Costa Neto	Right-wing to far-right	Right-wing populism Social conservatism Bolsonarism	96 / 513	12 / 81
	Workers' Party Partido dos Trabalhadores	PT	Gleisi Hoffmann	Centre-left	Social democracy Progressivism Populism	68 / 513	8 / 81
	Brazil Union União Brasil	UNIÃO	Luciano Bivar	Centre-right	Catch-all party Liberal conservatism	59 / 513	7 / 81
	Progressistas	PP	Ciro Nogueira	Centre-right	Catch-all party Liberal conservatism	50 / 513	6 / 81
	Brazilian Democratic Movement Movimento Democrático Brasileiro	MDB	Baleia Rossi	Centre to centre-right	Catch-all party	44 / 513	11 / 81
	Social Democratic Party Partido Social Democrático	PSD	Gilberto Kassab	Centre to centre-right	Catch-all party	44 / 513	15 / 81
	Republicans Republicanos	—	Marcos Pereira	Right-wing	Conservatism Economic liberalism	41 / 513	4 / 81
	Democratic Labour Party Partido Democrático Trabalhista	PDT	Carlos Lupi	Centre-left to left-wing	Labourism Social democracy Brazilian nationalism	18 / 513	2 / 81
	Podemos	PODE	Renata Abreu	Centre-right	Liberal conservatism Anti-corruption Direct democracy	15 / 513	7 / 81
	Brazilian Social Democracy Party Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira	PSDB	Marconi Perillo	Centre	Liberalism	14 / 513	2 / 81
	Brazilian Socialist Party Partido Socialista Brasileiro	PSB	Carlos Siqueira	Centre-left	Social democracy Progressivism Parliamentarism	14 / 513	5 / 81
	Socialism and Liberty Party Partido Socialismo e Liberdade	PSOL	Paula Coradi	Left-wing to far-left	Socialism of the 21st century Democratic socialism Left-wing populism	13 / 513	0 / 81
	Avante	—	Luis Tibé	Centre	Labourism Brazilian nationalism Christian solidarism	7 / 513	0 / 81
	Communist Party of Brazil Partido Comunista do Brasil	PCdoB	Luciana Santos	Left-wing to far-left	Communism Developmentalism	7 / 513	0 / 81
	Green Party Partido Verde	PV	José Luiz Penna	Centre-left	Green politics Municipalism	6 / 513	0 / 81
	Solidarity Solidariedade	—	Euripedes Júnior	Centre to centre-left	Humanism Labourism Progressivism	6 / 513	0 / 81
	Democratic Renewal Party Partido Renovação Democrática	PRD	Ovasco Resende	Right-wing to far-right	Right-wing populism National conservatism	4 / 513	0 / 81
	Cidadania	—	Comte Bittencourt	Centre	Social liberalism Parliamentarism Federalism	3 / 513	0 / 81
	New Party Partido Novo	NOVO	Eduardo Ribeiro	Right-wing	Classical liberalism Right-libertarianism	3 / 513	1 / 81
	Sustainability Network Rede Sustentabilidade	REDE	Heloísa Helena	Centre-left	Green liberalism Direct democracy	1 / 513	0 / 81

Other parties

Party		Abbr.	Leader	Position	Ideology
	Agir	—	Daniel Tourinho	Centre	Autistic people's interests
	Brazilian Communist Party Partido Comunista Brasileiro	PCB	Edmilson Costa	Far-left	Marxism-Leninism
	Brazilian Labour Renewal Party Partido Renovador Trabalhista Brasileiro	PRTB	Leonardo de Araújo	Right-wing to far-right	Right-wing populism National conservatism Labourism
	Brazilian Woman's Party Partido da Mulher Brasileira	PMB	Suêd Haidar	Right-wing	Social conservatism Anti-feminism Anti-abortion
	Christian Democracy Democracia Cristã	DC	José Maria Eymael	Centre-right	Christian democracy
	National Mobilization Mobilização Nacional	MOBILIZA	Antonio Massarollo	Centre-right	Brazilian nationalism Third-worldism Agrarianism
	Popular Unity Unidade Popular	UP	Leo Péricles	Far-left	Revolutionary socialism Anti-imperialism Anti-racism
	United Socialist Workers' Party Partido Socialista dos Trabalhadores Unificado	PSTU	Zé Maria	Far-left	Trotskyism
	Workers' Cause Party Partido da Causa Operária	PCO	Rui Costa Pimenta	Far-left	Trotskyism

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

• Paulista Republican Party (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". Portal da Câmara dos Deputados (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 March 2024.
11. "Senadores em Exercício". Senado Federal (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 March 2024.