Ferdinand Marcos And The Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos came to power in the Philippines in a coup détat in 1972 and ruled absolutely, in the name of order, until his dramatic overthrow in February of 1986. This study examines how the authoritarian regime of Marcos remained in power, sometimes in the face of massive opposition, for 14 years. Repressive regimes may seem undesirable, but they are often able to elicit the support of significant sectors of society. Marcos was able to maintain authoritarian rule through the support of bureaucrats, businessmen, and the military—all with the assistance of the United States government. He maintained this network of support through a patron-client system with a centralized bureaucracy as its power and resource base. In order to reward his supporters, he expanded the authority of government. But to minimize the political cost of expansion, he maintained the legal and constitutional forms of democracy. The Philippine experience in despotism is not unique; many Third World countries are under authoritarian rule. This subtle and nuanced analysis, therefore, provides an examination of the levers of power available to absolute rulers, to better understand the political economy of authoritarianism.

This work is a case study of the tumultuous rule of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines from 1972 to 1986, examining the levers of power available to absolute rulers and the development of a political economy of authoritarianism.

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A historical, political, and economic analysis of the Marcos dictatorship of the Pacific island nation from 1965 to 1986, but includes a review of the land and population and of the political and social history since the middle of the 19th century as background. Discusses the conditions under which he took power, martial law and regime legitimation, his complete takeover, his network of support, his decline and fall, and a brief look at the Philippines since then. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

ALBERT F. CELOZA is on the Faculty of Social Sciences at Phoenix College and an adjunct professor in International Studies at the American Graduate School of International Management Thunderbird and an affiliate with the Program for Southeast Asian Studies, Arizona State University.