The Decline of Philippine Communism

In the late 1990s, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is a squabbling political sect, looked upon with contempt by conservatives and with considerable embarrassment by progressives. The contributors to the book reviewed here advance the thesis that the decline of Philippine communism is closely linked to the communists' boycott of elections before the fall of Marcos in the mid-1980s and their subsequent marginalization in the national political process. The review critically considers the explanations offered for the CPP's boycott strategy – including ideological rigidity. It concludes that the key variables in explaining the rise and persistence of the CPP were the breakdown of Philippine democracy and the advent of Marcos's personalistic rule, while the key reasons for its decline were Marcos's fall from power and the subsequent re-democratization.