Brazil’s political system is a federal republic; it has been democratic since 1946, interrupted by several period of military rule (meaning military authoritarianism). Its democracy is considered relatively new in comparison to that of India’s or Japan’s, as it wasn’t actually restored until 1988.  Within the political system, there is a separation of powers.  The government is divided into three separate branches: executive, legislature, and judiciary.  The judiciary is composed of the High Tribunal of Justice, Supreme Court, and lower courts such as the labor or electoral courts, the legislature is bicameral and is made up of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, and finally the executive branch is the cabinet, President, and vice president (both of which are directly elected).  Japan’s political system is a parliamentary democracy (and technically a constitutional monarchy, but the emperor really only has a symbolic presence).  It is presidential, as such the president can somewhat rule by decree and initiate legislation in specific reserved areas.
Similar to that of Brazil, there are three separate branches in Japan’s government: executive, legislature, and judiciary.  The executive branch differs in that it’s composed of a prime minister and a cabinet with twenty members that the prime minister appoints, the legislature is also bicameral, though is composed by the 242 members of House Councillors and the 475 members of the House of Representatives, and the Judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court, with fourteen judges whom the cabinet appoints and a chief judge that is appointed by the emperor after being nominated by the cabinet.  The prime minister is elected by the Diet and has considerably less power than the president of Brazil in terms of the power they have regarding legislation.  They serve as commander-in-chief to the military, have the power to submit bills to the Diet, and can control/supervise the national civil service and frequently serve in office for about two years (as opposed to the Brazilian president, who serves for four).
India has a parliamentary democracy and, like Brazil, is a federal republic.  Such as the other two countries, India has three separate branches of government: executive, legislature, and judiciary.  The executive branch is more like that of Japan’s as there is a prime minister in power (though the prime minister is the leader of the party that occupies the majority of seats in the parliament), the legislature is bicameral and is composed of an indirectly elected upper house and a lower house with elected members (they have a winner take all system), and the judiciary is strikingly different in that it doesn’t have a Supreme Court, but instead a constitutional court with appointed judges.  Here, the prime minister is able to appoint people to government offices and, similar to Japan’s prime minister, can direct the civil service.  Members of the cabinet are appointed by the prime minister; they help shape policy, lead political parties, and direct a ministry that’s responsible for a specific policy area.
