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Even as Mr. Neves and Ms. Rousseff have sparred about corruption and the tactics of each campaign, seeking to emphasize their differences, they retain remarkably similar positions on numerous issues.For instance, both express support for preserving subsidy payments for the poor, state control of giant companies like Petrobras and affirmative-action programs for Brazilians of African descent.But their differences on economic policy have accentuated certain rifts, with the challenger’s call to resist Ms. Rousseff’s efforts to assert greater state control over the economy resonating among many voters, especially in the middle and upper classes.

Whoever wins on Sunday will face the challenge of governing in a political system in which presidents must forge alliances with an array of different parties, including some with sharply different ideologies. The rising political tension in the country is not expected to make this process any easier.“The negative aspect of the presidential race sets the stage for the fractious political scene which will emerge on Monday,” said Fernando Rodrigues, a columnist for the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. “The next president will have enormous difficulties in building some kind of consensus.”

According to a recent poll by Datafolha, more Brazilians identify with right-wing ideas, like looser gun restrictions, than they did last year. Although 58 percent of Brazilians believe that poverty relates to a lack of opportunities, 37 percent insist that laziness is the main cause of it. This was a major point of debate during the election: One side argued for meritocracy and less government aid; the other, for more public spending to reduce inequality.

Corruption is not what the right wing fears most. Just as in the ’60s, the Brazilian middle and upper classes are intensely afraid of the Communist threat.

The truth is that Ms. Rousseff’s Workers Party has been in power for more than 11 years and has so far failed to establish even a hint of the dreaded dictatorship of the proletariat. On the contrary: The once radical party has come to look increasingly centrist, adopting many of the practices of its neoliberal rivals. It has employed orthodox economic policies in order to maintain market stability; it hasn’t nationalized any assets but rather favored the privatization of ports, highways and airports; and Ms. Rousseff’s new ministers include an ally of agribusiness and nemesis of environmentalists, Katia Abreu, as agriculture minister, and a fiscally conservative banker, Joaquim Levy, as finance minister. This year, the profits of Brazilian private banks increased 26.9 percent. According to the “Top 1,000 World Banks” survey, Brazil is ranked seventh in banking profits.