A governança eleitoral: um enfoque sobre o protagonismo do poder judiciário no processo eleitoral

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to discuss the role of Electoral Justice within the Brazilian Electoral Governance model. Therefore, it begins the work with some considerations on the function of electoral institutions as important mechanisms of democratic development, especially in the context of trust within the institutions. Afterwards, concepts are debated about electoral governance, presenting the tripartite theory in which electoral institutions are divided between three phases rule making, rule administration and rule adjudication. Thus, the paper makes comments about the main functions of the Electoral Justice in each of these phases. Regarding the rule making, the paper describes the influence of the Brazilian judiciary in the elaboration of the "rules of the game" through the use of the regulatory power, as well as, in the reflexes of the exercise of its jurisdictional function in the creation of rules, the so called “judicialization of politics”. In the phase of the rule administration the study describes the competence of the judiciary to conduct the elections, from the initial procedures until the counting of the votes.Finally, the jurisdictional activity of the Electoral Justice is naturally highlighted, proposing the debate about the limits of this function. It is concluded, therefore, that the judiciary is present in all phases of electoral governance, highlighting that such option is due to a set of historical factors that culminated in the confidence of the Electoral Justice as an important actor of democratic stabilization in Brazil. Finally, it is emphasized that such option has negative consequences to the governance model, especially due to the excessive judicialization of electoral disputes. Thus, the paper concludes by a governance model that is guided by the perspective of democratic control, in order to guarantee democratic elections that reinforce confidence in democracy.