Democratic backsliding in the Philippines

Are voters becoming illiberal

Bibliographic Data

ID13021091
AuthorsYuko Kasuya (0000-0002-5324-3204, Keio University, corresponding author), Cleo Calimbahin (0000-0003-4025-098X, De La Salle University)
Year2022
Volume9
Issue1
Pages121-132
Publication date2022-11-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Journal of Comparative Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2057-8911 • E-ISSN: 2057-892X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/20578911221136263
OpenAlexW4311059921
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited16

Democratic backsliding by incumbents is one of the most prevalent forms of backsliding in recent global trends of democratic erosion. Understanding the attitude of voters toward backsliding incumbents is crucial because popular support is the basis of legitimacy for these incumbents. This article studies voter attitudes in the Philippines, where democracy was subverted by the incumbent president, Rodrigo Duterte, who served from 2016 to 2022. Specifically, we examine the validity of the claim that Filipino voters are acquiring a “taste for illiberal rule” made by some scholars. First, we analyzed the survey data regarding the support for various types of political systems, where part of the data comes from our originally commissioned survey at the Social Weather Stations. Second, we explored Pulse Asia's longitudinal survey data on martial-rule support. Our investigation of these survey data did not find substantive support for the “taste for illiberal rule” proposition. Further, we argue that Filipino voters are contingent supporters of illiberal politics while supporting the procedural principles of democracy at the baseline

Democracy · Legitimacy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Proposition · Sociology · Survey data collection · Taste · Asian Studies and History · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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