Conclusion

This special issue has discussed the wider representative role of the Brazilian Parliament’s lower chamber, the Chamber of Deputies, through an analysis that has integrated the way it processes policy with how it communicates with citizens. Adopting as an overarching framework, Polsby’s typology on Arena vs. Transformative legislatures, the articles have discussed the institutionalisation process of the Chamber of Deputies, its role within the political process and its relationship with other political institutions, the policy-making process, new communication and information technologies used by the Chamber of Deputies and its capacity to promote interaction between citizens and parliament. The findings show that policy-making and communication capacities have grown in so far as democracy lasts. Another important finding relates to the crucial role played by the administrative body of the Chamber of Deputies, which acts itself as the key interactive link between citizens and parliament, to the point that it takes over the representatives’ role.