Toward a Populist Liberal Democracy? Confronting the Intellectualist Biases and the Rethinking of Liberalism and Populism in the Philippines

The crisis of liberal democracy and the supposed threat of populism have been prominent talking points among political analysts for decades (Abts and Rummens 2007; Ionescu and Gellner 1969; Riker 1988). However, it did not hit the Philippines hard until the spectacular rise and the enduring popularity of Rodolfo Duterte since 2016, and the stunning election of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in May 2022. Many well-meaning liberal intellectuals who dominated the domestic and international media and academia reacted by denying or misrecognizing reality and by blaming anyone or anything other than the possible problems with liberal democratic politics itself.

This paper seeks to contribute to efforts at re-inventing liberal democracy in the Philippines by finding ways to incorporate, rather than expurgate and demonize, the populist elements. While populism is often seen as antithesis to liberalism or liberal democracy(Abts and Rummens 2007; Gidron and Bonikowski 2013; Kuzminski 2008; Riker 1988), it is not originally and necessarily so. The originary vision of the liberal tradition presupposed multi-faceted, as opposed to mainly intellectual, human capabilities that enable humanity to chart its own destiny. The supremacy of the intellectualist standpoint that underpins much of the contemporary liberal democratic practices is not a given. Just as history is open-ended, these forces may be re-configured or redirected to make liberal democracy more responsive to the affective or emotive predispositions of people on the ground, and confronting and neutralizing intellectualist biases is a major step along this line.