Uma herança do período ditatorial não superada pela lei nº 12.034/2009: reflexões sobre a presença das mulheres nas eleições para a Câmara dos Deputados do Brasil

Abstract

Even after 85 years of female suffrage at the national level, women's participation in theBrazilian politics is significantly lower than that of men, and in 2010 the Brazilian populationwas composed of 51.03% of women (IBGE, 2010), and women represent 53% of voters(according to TSE data). Currently the Chamber of Deputies has the participation of thelargest number of female deputies in its history, that is, 77 (reaching, for the first time, 15% ofseats). In spite of the approval of Law no. 12.034/2009, which determines that each partymust register a minimum of 30% of the candidates of each sex, and the recent decisions of theSupreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court on the matter, the increase in the number ofcandidates did not represent a growth of number of candidates elected in the elections for theChamber of Deputies. Based on the study of the data related to the number of femalecandidates for the Chamber of Deputies during the period of the civil-military dictatorship inBrazil and the current democracy, the present study suggests that Brazilian democracy did notovercome women's false political representation. Thus, while problematizing the threedimensional theory of justice developed by Nancy Fraser, which recognizes the issue ofrepresentativeness as essential to the realization of justice in a democratic paradigm, thepresent work acknowledges the progress achieved so far with regard to the participation ofwomen in politics, but underscores the need for deeper reforms to ensure women's status as apolitical subject. Thus, the Brazilian transition would need to operationalize transformativereforms in society, in order to overcome situations of inequality that were underlying thedictatorial regime, but which are still verified in the current democracy.