Authoritarian Fantasies and Democratic Aspirations: The Philippines After Duterte

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte defied established political norms in the Philippines. Beyond his inflammatory rhetoric and authoritarian posturing, Duterte actively undermined institutions of liberal democracy including due process, gender rights, and freedom of the press. These developments may give observers the impression that democratic political norms in the Philippines have made a turn for the worse. After all, President Duterte, as his presidential term came to an end, continued to enjoy an excellent public satisfaction rating. We seek to challenge these impressions in this chapter. We argue that the President's popularity must not be conflated with public support for his democratic transgressions. Instead, we argue that Filipinos, for the most part, remain committed to the norms of (1) due process; (2) gender equality, and (3) press freedom. We further argue that rather than signalling a shift of political norms in the Philippines, what President Duterte exhibited was a vulgar articulation of the worst norms of longstanding elite democracy in a highly unequal society.