Open voting reduces the chances of impeachment of influential politicians, according to FGV professor

Carlos Pereira, professor at FGV's Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (FGV/EBAPE), has pointed out that open voting reduces the chances of impeachment of influential politicians. In his article, Sunshine or Shield? Secret Voting Procedures and Legislative Accountability, written in partnership with researchers Michele Butto and Matthew Taylor, the professor used statistical models of selection (Sartori) and computer simulations (ABM model) to investigate the following controversy: ?which voting, open or secret, provides greater or lesser accountability in legislation??.In Carlos Pereira's opinion, the only change in procedure for the open vote in the full House of Representatives, as recently amended by legislators, does not necessarily generate more punishment on the parliamentarians involved in the corruption scandal. Researchers used the case of the Brazilian Congress, which uses a sequential combination of procedures of open and secret voting.Instead of wanting more transparency and accountability in the Legislative power, our research reveals that the open voting procedure, both in the Ethics Committee and in the plenary of the House of Representatives, may actually hinder the punishment. This result, counterintuitive, to some extent, stems from the fact that the decision to revoke a parliamentarian due to corruption could also be contingent upon the accused. That is, powerful lawmakers who hold positions in the Congress hierarchy or leadership in their parties, can avail of this condition of power to intimidate and retaliate against legislators who voted in favor of impeachment, thus decreasing their chances of punishment. On the other hand, the open vote proved a powerful weapon to punish corrupt parliamentarians considered lower clergy. It depends a lot; therefore, on the conditions and the context in which voting occurs, explained the professor.