http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/03b728203c288d61 https://verfassungsblog.de/brazil-runoff/ The Constitution Releases Its Children - Brasil Before the Presidential Runoff Hoffmann, Florian eng 2026-10-16 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Brazil Brazilian elections Presidential Elections Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 The shock over the shift to the right in the first round of the Brazilian elections on October 4th runs deep. It is felt not only by supporters of the current incumbent, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his broad coalition, but also by all those who had hoped, Brazil would defy the crisis of liberal democracy and remain a bulwark of democratic constitutionalism. Even if there remains a glimmer of hope that the return of Bolsonarism to the presidency during the runoff on October 25 can still be held off, it is clear already after the first round that a hard right populism will dominate the Brazilian Congress and most of its state governments – and, hence, the baselines of Brazilian politics –, even if Lula should, in the end, be re-elected by a whisker.