All state judiciaries are hierarchical, like the federal system.

各州的司法机构都象联邦体系一样分等级的。

State judiciaries interpret state laws and apply them in specific disputes relating to state law.

州司法机构在涉及到州法律的具体争端中解释和运用州法律.

||1: Thailand is illustrative of a third trend: for conservative judiciaries , when a time-honoured political dispensation changes, to find themselves, in effect, part of the opposition. ||2: Like much of the civil service, army and other pillars of Thailand’s royalist establishment, the judiciary abhors the Shinawatras’ alleged corruption with a special intensity in part because it fears their popularity, and hence their ability to overturn the accustomed order. ||3: In the Maldives, too, the courts helped get rid of a popular leader in 2012. ||4: Mohamed Nasheed was the first directly elected president after a long dictatorship. ||5: He threatened to shake things up, but lost a power struggle with a judge.

||1:泰国则代表了第三种趋势：保守的司法体制长久以来拥有超然的政治地位，但如今格局已渐渐改变，事实上司法部门已经成为了反对派的一部分。||2:与公务员，军队，以及其他泰国保皇派主要群体一样，司法部门非常痛恨西那瓦家族的腐败。而且其中也有畏惧的成分。西那瓦家族拥有广泛的民众支持，进而有能力颠覆现有格局。||3:同样在马尔代夫，法院也在2012年为除去一位广受欢迎的领导人出了一把力。||4:穆罕默德·纳希德是这个国家历经长期独裁后的第一位直选总统。||5:他曾出言要改天换地，但在与司法的权斗中败下阵来。

What matters is not whether a president can run for re-election, but whether countries possess the countervailing institutions required to curb the abuse of executive power and the advantages of incumbency. Strong and independent judiciaries , electoral authorities, media and political parties are all vital.

问题的关键点不在于总统是否可以再次竞选，而在于国家是否有足以遏制滥用行政权力和在位者优势的对抗制度。强大而独立的司法机构、选举委员会、媒体以及政党都是必不可少的。

Elected but autocratic presidents have neutered judiciaries and other democratic institutions.

由民选产生但实施独裁的强人总统阉割了司法权和其他民主体制。