ABSTRACT
In the first part of Chapter 7, The Philippines, the political history of the country is recounted since its US occupation in the twentieth century and its 1946 independence. This account examines the country’s early difficulties with democratic rule, the martial law period under Ferdinand Marcos, and subsequent attempts at democratization following the 1986 People Power Revolution. It also includes analysis of the recent strongman rule of Rodrigo Duterte since 2016. The latter part of the chapter begins with an examination of the country’s key political institutions and social groups, namely the constitution, legislature, political parties, patron-client relations, the Catholic Church, the military, communist insurgents, Moro separatists, and women. A section devoted to state-society relations and democracy follows. It examines the Philippine’s troubled democratic development rooted in a power asymmetry controlled by an entrenched class of landed elites. A brief examination of the economy follows noting the country’s dependence on remittance flows from Philippine workers abroad as well as the country’s endemic poverty. The chapter closes with an overview of the Philippines’ foreign policy including analysis of the South China Sea dispute and the Philippines’ relations with ASEAN, China, Japan, and the United States. A map of the Philippines is included for geographical reference.
