The modern third state: a reinterpretation of Sieyès from the standpoint of female participation in brazilian politics

Abstract

This essay aims to establish a relationship between the work “What is the Third State?”, written by Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès in 1788, and the modern Brazilian democracy, demonstrating the similarities between the political participation and economic contribution of the bourgeois
class of pre-revolutionary France and the women in Brazil today. In his work, Sieyès manifests the need for more representation in politics and – apart from the differences between these two periods, societies and State model – the bourgeois class of that time relates to Brazilian women nowadays, as well as the under-representation applies for both groups. The methodology used was qualitative; basic, in order to seek new knowledge without applying the necessary practice; exploratory, aiming to obtain greater familiarity with the topic; and bibliographic and ethnographic, since it is carried out through bibliographies, articles, jurisprudence, legislation, as well as news, in order to deal with a current and relevant subject. And from the application of these research tools, it was concluded that, despite the more than 230 years between the reality portrayed by Sieyès and the current Brazilian political scenario, the similarities between the periods are alarmingly deep and that Brazilian democracy, besides fragile, is also retrograde.