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Democratization in Philippines

Philippines gained independence in 1946 from the United States and since it was under the tutelage of United States, it adopted the much of the US political structure.

Although there is a strong correlation between democracy and development, Philippines failed to live up to its economic potential mainly due to crony capitalism and corruption. Corruption led to high foreign debt and pervasive poverty in Philippines. However, after Marcos's era, Philippines witnessed steady growth in terms of real income along with democracy.

Transition to democracy after Independence:

Initially, Philippines possessed very few characteristics of an Asian democracy model. Being influenced by United States, Philippines used western democracies to shape their government, a system that promoted provincial political elites and the oligarchs from Manila, the capital . These provincial elites were expected to deliver votes to national candidates and the oligarchs financed the campaigns. Philippines had "a patronage-oriented civil service and political parties; industrialists protected from domestic and foreign competition" (Hawes, 1989). This framework led to bleak economic prospects for the Philippines and it had staggering economic growth ever since it gained independence in 1946 .

Development after democracy in Philippines:

The Philippine economy suffered the most under Marco's, a dictator, rule as the country slipped into deep recession in 1983, which led to a negative growth rate. For instance; annual growth rate was -7.3% in 1983 . Hutchcroft suggests that this was because of a) poor decision-making by Marcos who generally implemented too expansionary in its fiscal and monetary policy, b) due to capital flight from the Philippines treasury and lastly due to the assassination of Aquino which striped away investors' confidence in the political and economic stability of Philippines.

However, the People Power 1 movement in 1986 forced Marcos out of power and Cori Aquino, widowed wife of Aquino (who was Marcos's competitor in the elections) came in power. After Marcos, Cory Aquino became the first female president of Philippines and led a country's transition from dictatorship to democracy. The National Democracy movements took place under Aquino's presidency in attempt to transition from dictatorship to democracy. Aquino was determined to lift Philippines up from severe recession in 1983-85, (this economic recession took place under Marco's administration). Aquino's presidency was widely viewed as having made little impact on Philippines' deeply rooted economic and social problems . However, contrary to popular belief, the restoration of democracy led by Aquino led to immediate improvement in GDP however, due to the Asian crisis and several coup attempts at Aquino, Philippines went through economic slowdown 1991 onwards . Hence, although disappointing, Aquino's presidency provided somewhat smooth transition from dictatorship to democracy.

When the leadership transition switched to Ramos's era, democracy returned effectively in Philippines. Ramos made the greatest and the most honest stride towards Democracy by taking on the task of implementing the appropriate political and economic reforms. During his presidency, Ramos restored democracy by implementing 1991 Local Government code which comprised of 229 structural laws out of which 79 were economic reforms, 85 were social reforms, and the remaining were political, electoral, defense and administrative reforms . This code initiated decentralization, which allowed democracy to grow.

Ramos also initiated foreign investment in an effort to integrate Philippines into the global economy. Ramos also enforced a liberalizing economy to bring peace within Philippines especially in the South (affected by Muslim separatist movements). This reform improved the economy by reducing poverty levels and increasing FDI . GDP growth rate (%) increased from 0.5% in 1991 to 7% in 1996 under Aquino's administration but induced by Ramos's growth policies. The GDP increased from $ 58.7 Billion to $81 Billion in 2000 during Ramos's regime. Exports increase by 29% in 1995, and 16.6% in 1996 because tariffs dropped by 5% and 25% of trade restrictions were abolished . Foreign investment also grew for instance; Hopewell Holdings in Hong Kong invested large power plants, which will be inherited by Philippine 15 years later. FDI was beneficial for Philippines as it increased exports, increased the productivity of local industries via capital and introduced Philippines to technology. Hence, Ramos's administration really paved the way for sustainable development in Philippines.

Between 2000 and 2002, under Estrada's administration, the annual growth rate was 3.8% and GDP increased from USD 76.3 Billion to USD 81.4 Billion . The targeted revenues weren't reached and implementation of policies became very slow, some profound policies were executed. Estrada focused on population control (budget allocated for family planning and contraceptives) and Poverty Alleviation Plan (delivery of social services, basic needs and assistance to poor families, inequitable control over resources).

In 2002 through 2005 was when most economic development took place. Average growth rate was 6% under Arroyo's administration. Policies under Arroyo's administration promoted tourism, foreign investments and regional development. Emergence of Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) increased the amount of remittances (10% of GDP in 2010) which encouraged growth via investment and spending . Lastly, from 2009 onwards the Philippines was the fastest growing economy in the South East Asia with a GDP growth of 7.3% driven by the growing business process outsourcing and overseas remittances. Under Aquino's presidency, the credit rating increased, debt decreased and fiscal management improved. This also led to increase in exports as shipments rose about 12 percent in 2014. Currently, the GDP growth rate is 6.0% derived by investment, recovery of exports and expanding of private consumption and higher remittances.

Current State and Conclusion:

Any country that democratizes goes through three stages of democratization. The first is political liberalization, which signifies the loosening of overt authoritarian controls and democratic procedures are formalizing. The second step is formal transition to democracy. A country adopts new laws and procedures. The third step is internalization of democracy where there is a "normative acceptance of new democratic procedures and major political actors" (Armijo, 8). Aquino, in essence was an appointed transitional political leader. She aimed to enforce the government polities firmly in stage three of democratization. However, her term ended before she could achieve her aim. Conversely, it was more crucial to feed democratic ideals in public perception because at that time, the voters were skeptical of Ramos's (president after Aquino) intentions. Ramos won by a really close margin and obtained only 24% of all the votes. Ramos, through his presidency, iterated the confidence in the renewed democratic political system. Ramos encouraged transparency and demanded positive economic performance. Milton Friedman once said, "democracy and development are mutually reinforcing and no person comprehends this more than Ramos. Ramos was arguably one of the most influential advocates for democracy. Although it is important to mention that Philippines in some ways still practice patrimonialism in the way that the politicians govern the public office as their own personal property, Philippines is becoming more democratic as means of achieving political, economic and social development.

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