Brazil
Women in decision-making positions

Government organization

Spheres of government

Brazil ­­­­­­­is a federal republic with three spheres of government: federal, intermediate (the states and the Federal District), and local.

One tier of central government, one tier of intermediate government composed of states and the Federal District, and one tier of local government below the states.

  • Head of State: The President of the Republic is directly elected by voters.
  • Head of Government: The President of the Republic is the Head of State and the Head of Government.
  • Legislative body: The National Congress is a bicameral legislature, with an upper house (the Federal Senate), and a lower house (the Chamber of Deputies). Members of the National Congress are directly elected by voters.
  • Executive body: The powers of the executive are exercised by the President of the Republic, assisted by the Ministers of the Federal Government, who are appointed by the President of the Republic.

  • Legislative body: The legislative assembly (in states) and the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District (in the Federal District) are composed of members who are directly elected by voters.
  • Executive body: The governor, assisted by a lieutenant governor, is directly elected by voters.

  • Organization: Local government is organized into one tier of 5,570 municipalities. There is no organized local government within the Federal District; the Federal District has the legislative competencies reserved to the states and municipalities.
  • Competencies: Local government is responsible for legislating on subjects of local interest, supplementing federal and state legislation, organizing essential public services of local interest, promoting territorial ordering through planning, and instituting and collecting taxes within their jurisdiction.
  • Ministerial oversight: Ministry of Regional Development

Overview of local government

Local government composition

Deliberative body: The municipal council is composed of 9-55 elected members. A council president is elected by and from the municipal council to preside over it; the council president is not vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The mayor, assisted by a vice-mayor, is the executive at the municipal level of government.

Local government elections

Electoral system: for municipal chambers: proportional representation (open list)

  • An open party-list proportional electoral system is used for municipal council elections, according to the d’Hondt system of seat allocation. For elections using the proportional electoral system, each ballot has a space for the voter to write the name/number of the selected candidate, or the acronym/number of the party of the voter’s preference.

Electoral system for mayors: majority/plurality (first-past-the-post)

  • Mayors are directly elected by voters, using a separate ballot from the municipal chamber election.

Source: Electoral Code, 1965 (amended through 2021), articles 83, 84, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 and 112

Gender quotas: Legislated candidate quotas

  • For the municipal council elections, each candidate list must consist of 30-70% of each gender.

Additional quotas: No

Source: Election Law, 1997 (amended through 2021), article 10§3

  • Term length: 4 years
  • Last local elections: 2020
  • Next local elections: 2024

­Superior Electoral Court; Regional Electoral Court

Sources:

1. UN Women: Data on share of women in local government as of 1 January 2025.

2. UN Women: Information on Head of State and Government as of 1 December 2025.

3. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Data on share of women in the single/lower chamber of parliament as of 1 January 2025.

4. UN Women: Data on share of women Cabinet ministers as of 1 January 2025.

5. Information on local government organization as of 1 January 2023.