Provisional constitutional laws and the executive branch: an analysis of the constituent assemblies of 1933-34 and 1946

Abstract

During the provisional governments of Getúlio Vargas and José Linhares, respectively in 1933 and 1945, a group of laws was issued whose function was, mainly, to define procedures that could regulate the taking up office of the Contituent Assemblies of 1933-34 and 1946. This group of laws, however, attributed powers to the Executive branch that are not rightful in a representative democracy. The purpose of this research is, therefore, to analyze how these laws were received, discussed and redesigned by the Constituent Assemblies. This research was made through the analysis of the Annals of the Constituent Assemblies of 1933-34 and 1946, where we captured how those political actors thought the theme of democracy and power separation. Beyond that, we accomplished a discussion with the political and constitutional theory to realize how it understands the problems concerning the intervention of the Executive branch in Constituent Assemblies.