Philippines & Democracy Within the context of the late twentieth century

Within the context of the late twentieth century, one of the most interesting political revolutions has been the attempt for the people of the Republic of the Philippines to establish a democratic government. Even a cursory overview of the previous authoritarian government in the Philippines, under the leadership of Ferdinand Marcos, shows that there were "progressive steps by which Marcos deliberately discarded the principles and practices of democracy and proclaimed martial law. Neither total power and total responsibility nor constitutional authoritarianism were any more successful than the traditional patterns of Philippines democracy in giving the people the security and standard of living they had a right to expect."1 It was left to the leadership of one Corazon Aquino, wife of democratic advocate Ninoy Aquino, who was assassinated in August, 1983, to help focus the country in the direction of democratic selfdetermination. Of course, the political and economic problems that beset the Marcos regime are still present, and an urgent task in the Philippines is the restoration of law, order, and a system of democratic justice.

1 Claude A. Buss, "Cory Aquino and the People of the Philippines," (Stanford: Stanford Alumni Association, 1987), 2.

Under the rubric of the Philippines as a test case, this paper will begin by examining the theoretical origins of democracy in the modern world using the works of Dahl, Lipset, and Huntington. Once the

rning. Thus, the various tensions that are indicative of this system preclude letting issues be carried over from one historical period to another.17 The final theoretical aspect of the process of democratization under scrutiny here is that presented by Samuel P. Huntington. Huntington uses political and social theory in order to use a more refined aspect of social science theory to ask the rhetorical question: "will more countries become democratic?"18 For Huntington, the issue of democracy has extraordinary contemporary relevance for the countries currently embracing democracy, as well as implications for other social, economic, and political values. For democratization to prosper, however, there are certain preconditions that must be addressed. First, it is necessary for a certain degree of economic wealth and equality to be present in a system for democracy to increase. For instance, "a wealthy economy. . . makes possible higher levels of literacy, education, and mass media exposure, all of which are conducive to democracy."19 _____________________ 17 Ibid., 169. 18 Samuel P. Huntington, "Will More Countries Become Democratic?" Political Science Quarterly 99 2 (1984): 193. 19 Ibid., 199. Further, "since democracy