SISTEMA POLÍTICO, CRISE DE REPRESENTAÇÃO E CLÁUSULA DE BARREIRA: APONTAMENTOS SOBRE A DEMOCRACIA BRASILEIRA

Abstract

Our article presents an argument characterizing the barrier clause, also known as exclusion clause, performance clause or threshold clause, as an anti-democratic instrument. We make a diagnosis of what political parties are and what they are for in Brazil and in modern Western societies, we argue their relevance and how they have become fundamental for a solid democracy. Then we analyze the emergence of the barrier clause mechanism, from its origin in Germany to its various applications in Brazil, from the beginning of the 20th century until today. From these data we conclude refuting the barrier clause as an instrument that improves democracy, we understand that it is the opposite, serving to strengthen oligarchies and widen inequalities among the various sectors that make up society and are expressed through political parties.