The Age of Personalized Parties: Survival and Revival of Party Personalization in the Philippines and Indonesia

Given the fact that both Indonesia and the Philippines are considered to have procedural democracies, this research sets out to seek how dominant features of party organization are exhibited and why such features emerge or prevail in both countries. In doing so, this research assesses the party leadership and intra-party democracy index in twenty political parties in both countries. The party leaderships are identified with examining how the party leaders institutionalize their power and how the leadership selections are institutionally conducted. Meanwhile, findings of intra-party democracy are analysed through employing measurements of intra-party democracy index of the party statutes in each party. This research concludes that parties in both countries suffer from party personalization in certain ways. The low intra-party democracy and the nature of presidency foster the revival and survival of party personalization in Indonesian and Philippines parties, respectively.