Electoral Reform and the Prospects of Voter Engagement in the Philippines: 1972 - 2022
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2023
Abstract
From Martial Law to the present, electoral outcomes have largely been the paramount indicator of political and social change in the Philippines. This is prevalent in the view that elections are seen as opportunities to “reset” the political fates of individual and collective actors. Against the backdrop of an electorate operating within social institutions that have not fundamentally changed since the 1986 Snap Elections; we seek to interrogate the changing threats against democratization in the country by mapping how major electoral reform actors have framed and presented these threats to the public and how these actors have sought to organize societal responses against these threats. Through this institutional view of electoral reform actors; we ask ourselves the question of the value of elections as a viable arena of contestation for democratization: what have we gained since Martial Law? What have we missed and what are the possible paths forward?
Recommended Citation
Lao, M.E.J., & Rivera, M.P.P. (2023). Electoral reform and the prospects of voter engagement in the Philippines: 1972 - 2022. In E.C. De Jesus & I.S. Baysic (Eds.), Martial law in the Philippines: Lessons and legacies, 1972 -2022. Bughaw.
