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The Philippines

From ‘People Power’ to Democratic Backsliding

Mark R Thompson author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:25th May '23

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Philippines cover

The Element explains how the Philippines backslid from a democracy with 'people power' against a dictator to electing his son.

This Element offers a 'structuration' perspective through which presidential power, elite pushback, and the reliance on political violence and the instrumentalization of mass poverty are examined. These factors have recurrently combined to lead to the fall, restoration, and now steep decline of democracy in the Philippines.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.

ISBN: 9781009398480

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 5mm

Weight: 129g

75 pages