Historical Blocs and Democratic Impasse in the Philippines: 20 years after 'people power'

A critical analysis of the current political crisis in the Philippines is undertaken, using a neo-Gramscian focus on the emergence and alternation of hegemonic historical blocs and the state. Twenty years after the so-called 'people's power' uprising restored constitutional democracy and became something of an international model of 'peaceful' political transformation, the Philippines is again facing a protracted political crisis. The government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has become embroiled in accusations of corruption and vote rigging in elections. While Arroyo has survived thanks to strong support in the country's House of Representatives, and to the similar discrediting of the formal political opposition, she remains deeply unpopular. The crisis is traced to the impacts of nationally and globally induced forces that allowed the deep-rooted entrenchment of a hegemonic political bloc based on land-owning capital. This bloc, while undergoing some alterations, has ensured operation of a form of path dependence based on poverty and social exclusion. Despite numerous political upheavals, the power of this bloc has not been substantially changed. The Philippines now faces an option of consolidated power of the bloc through Arroyo's constitutional reform initiatives or the prospect of a more radical rupture in political and social relations. The international significance of the Philippine case demonstrates that the turn to democratisation over the past 20 years has not reduced antagonistic social and political conflicts in many cases and that more sustained structural changes are required.