In the past decade, democracies around the world have been bent to the will of(屈服于……的意志) would-be(潜在的，自称的) autocrats. From the United States to Turkey and India, strongmen(强人，铁腕人物) have accumulated(积累，积聚) power in the executive branch of government, and weakened the institutions that could check(制衡，抑制) them, legislatures in particular.
在过去十年里，世界各地的民主国家都屈服于潜在独裁者的意志。从美国到土耳其和印度，强人政治人物在政府行政分支中积累了权力，并削弱了本可制衡他们的机构，尤其是立法机构。
Frustrated lawmakers elsewhere, therefore, might envy(羡慕，嫉妒) their peers in Brazil, where this trend is running in reverse(反向运行，逆转): in the past decade Brazil’s executive branch has lost clout(影响力，势力) to the courts, and especially to Congress. The balance of power has become so distorted(扭曲的，失真的) that Brazilian lawmakers no longer seem to care who is elected president in the general election in October. Some reckon(认为，估计) that whoever wins may be forced to capitulate(投降，屈服) to their demands. Brazilians may be in the process of discovering that, just as an excess of executive power is a challenge to democracy, so an overmighty Congress can be, too.(巴西人可能正在发现，正如行政权力过度是对民主的挑战，过于强大的国会也是如此。)
因此，其他地方感到沮丧的立法者可能会羡慕他们在巴西的同行，那里的趋势正相反：在过去十年中，巴西的行政分支在法院面前，尤其是在国会面前，失去了影响力。权力平衡已经扭曲到巴西立法者似乎不再关心十月大选中谁当选总统的程度。一些人认为，无论谁获胜，都可能被迫屈服于他们的要求。巴西人可能正在发现，正如行政权力过度膨胀是对民主的挑战一样，过于强大的国会也可能如此。
The contest on October 4th will pit(使对立，使竞争) two radically different presidential candidates against each other: the incumbent(现任者，在职者), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, is an 80-year-old left-winger(左翼人士). His rival, Flávio Bolsonaro, is the 44-year-old son of a populist(民粹主义的) former president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting(密谋，策划) a coup(政变) after losing an election in 2022. All 513 seats in the lower house will also be renewed, as well as two-thirds of the Senate. Yet despite the polarised(两极分化的) race, Brazil’s largest bloc(集团，阵营), the Centrão(巴西“大中心”政党联盟) (big centre), which accounts for 46% of seats in the outgoing Congress, has declared its neutrality. Party bigwigs(大人物，要人) will allow local politicians to support whichever candidate they choose.
10月4日的竞选将让两位截然不同的总统候选人相互对决：现任总统路易斯·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦，人称卢拉，是一位80岁的左翼人士。他的对手弗拉维奥·博索纳罗，是民粹主义前总统雅伊尔·博索纳罗44岁的儿子，后者因在2022年选举失败后策划政变而被判27年监禁。下议院所有513个席位也将改选，以及参议院三分之二的席位。然而，尽管竞选两极分化，巴西最大的政治集团“大中心”（Centrão），在即将离任的国会中占46%的席位，却宣布保持中立。党内大佬将允许地方政客支持他们选择的任何候选人。
How to spend it
如何花钱
Can’t touch this
碰不得