Philippine democracy and its discontents: the failed promise of social justice under the 1987 people power constitution (original) (raw)
Related papers
2014
This paper explores the case of the Philippines considering the Latin American democratization experience. Being a catholic country, with Spanish heritage and a recent authoritarian past, the Philippines may provide a " hoop test " (i.e. a test of necessary conditions) for theories on Latin American politics. Latin America's fragile combination of extreme inequality and democracy is often explained through the reminiscences of an Iberian political culture and through the effects of a statist ideology among elites. These theorized causes are also verified in the Filipino case. Located in Southeast Asia, the Philippines share many cultural and political characteristics with Latin America, such as social and political inequality, patronage, and state inefficiency. Despite of that, the Philippines and most Latin American countries have managed to sustain a democratic routine since the mid-eighties. The Philippines and Latin America face similar challenges, e.g., popular dissatisfaction with political elites, elevated levels of urban violence and circumscribed political violence. To sustain our argument of case similarity, we compare survey data to test if Filipino and Latin American political values are indeed compatible. Afterwards, we propose the comparison between the historical development of the Philippines and Brazil. Our goal is to evaluate if theories on Latin American politics effectively apply to an external case. If the similarity remains tout court, we may say that the Philippines provides a " hoop test " for Latin America. If not, the challenge becomes to incorporate findings in our understanding of this subcontinent and the Philippines. Our comparison led us to focus in the formations of states in each case. Preliminary results indicate much similarity in the political development in the Philippines and in Brazil, but also important sources of bifurcation, which resulted in a strong intervenient state in Brazil and a weak state in the Philippines.
Active Democratic Leadership: Civil Society Empowerment in the Bangsamoro., 2017
In this paper, I examine the problem and history of Philippine democracy. It traces the root of the problem to the legacy of colonialism in the country which has resulted to the elitist nature of its politics that has excluded the poor and Mindanao. The two aspects of the problem appear to be political domination and the moral divide in the system, as explained by majority of scholars. It is argued here that the redistribution of wealth and the balance in the whole political structure can only commence through systemic reforms, which must include a shift to federalism to decentralize power and the strengthening of political parties as a way out of the grip of political dynasties.
Moral Politics in the Philippines: Inequality, Democracy and the Urban Poor
Planning Theory
Sr. through peaceful demonstrations. The Philippines suddenly became an international darling of democracy, inspiring some social movements elsewhere in their struggle against authoritarianism. A decade and a half later, in 2001 the Filipino middle-class ousted the populist president Joseph Estrada after a series of political rallies on the same street where the 1986 protests took place-Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). Yet, three months after, another mass of peoplemostly urban poor-congregated on EDSA demanding the re-installment of the deposed Estrada. These events came to be called as 'EDSA People Power' revolts. As EDSA3 was taking place, the statement below circulated as a text message: EDSA 1: free the nation from a dictator. EDSA 2: free the nation from a thief. EDSA 3: free lunch, dinner, breakfast and snacks too… let's go. (p. 109) This sarcastic note captures the dominant EDSA narrative among the Filipino middle-class. It reflects a loaded judgment on political acts in a highly unequal Philippine society. Why is this so? Why has the erstwhile darling of democracy seemed to have fragmented so fast? What accounts for the deeply dismissive view of EDSA3? Kusaka's book-Moral Politics in the Philippines-addresses these questions and other issues engulfing the Philippines since the historic EDSA1 uprising.
Filipino Social Democracy: Origins and Characteristics, Lessons and Challenges
2020
It will redistribute wealth, in response to the spirit of Christian justice not by violence but by the democratic process of law. This process will include the use of the police and taxing power of the State for the redistribution of land, the spread of ownership of industry, the providing of housing, free education, free medical attention to all citizens who need it or who may not be able to afford it otherwise…Christian social democracy will place economic development in the hands of the many and not of the few… It will, therefore, pursue economic planning (1967: 58).
The Philippines From "People Power" to Democratic Backsliding
Cambridge Elements, Cambridge University Press, 2023
This Element explores how in the Philippines a “whiggish” narrative of democracy and good governance triumphing over dictatorship and kleptocracy after the “people power” uprising against Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986 was upended by strongman Rodrigo R. Duterte three decades later. Portraying his father’s authoritarian rule as a “golden age,” Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. succeeded Duterte by easily winning the 2022 presidential election, suggesting democratic backsliding will persist. A structuralist account of the inherent instability of the country’s oligarchical democracy offers a plausible explanation of repeated crises but underplays agency. Strategic groups have pushed back against executive aggrandizement. Offering a “structuration” perspective, presidential power and elite pushback are examined as is the reliance on political violence and the instrumentalization of mass poverty. These factors have recurrently combined to lead to the fall, restoration, and now steep decline of democracy in the Philippines.
The unresolved question of nationhood, a warped vision of public service, an alienated political system, and an ambivalent political culture are at the basis of these issues. These issues contributed substantially to the country's political and economic institutions' weaknesses. If national development is to occur, the spirit of nationalism, which has been suppressed by lengthy periods of colonialism, must be resurrected, the political system must be democratized, and an ethic-oriented politics aimed at the people's well-being must emerge. Philippine sovereignty can be preserved, foreign intrusion can be limited, national honor and pride can be restored, and a better society for future generations may be built via these efforts.