FROM PARTY LOYALTY TO INTRA-PARTY COERCION: THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN POLITICAL PARTY AUTONOMY AND FREEDOM IN THE EXERCISE OF THE PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE

Abstract

This study analyzes the legal limits of party loyalty and party discipline within the Brazilian proportional electoral system, particularly in situations in which legitimate mechanisms of internal organization unduly restrict parliamentary action. The central question is how far party autonomy extends and at what point the exercise of disciplinary power may amount to intra-party coercion. The main temporal scope covers 2021 to 2026, beginning with Constitutional Amendment No. 111/2021, while earlier precedents necessary to understand the current legal framework are also considered. The research is predominantly doctrinal and legal, qualitative in approach, and uses bibliographic, documentary, legislative and case-law sources. The analysis considers, among other factors, statutory authorization, institutional competence, the legitimacy of party directives, due process, equal treatment, the intensity of sanctions and their concrete effects on the mandate. The study assumes that party loyalty and discipline are compatible with the constitutional order, but do not authorize arbitrary action by party leadership. The expression “intra-party coercion” is used as an analytical category to identify situations in which disciplinary power, although formally grounded, is exercised in a discriminatory or procedurally irregular manner, or in a way that makes parliamentary activity or continued membership in the party unfeasible.