Middle-class Remorse: Re-embracing Liberal Democracy in the Philippines and Thailand
Democracy in both Thailand and the Philippines has been crippled by support given to anti-democratic forces by intellectuals who foolishly endorsed leaders who have done serious damage to the prospects for democratic governance in both countries. The middle classes that supported those views are now seized by remorse, and it remains to be seen whether a course correction in both countries is on the horizon, writes Mark R. Thompson. in the NEW Literature on the old themes of “trahison des clercs” (the treason of the intellectuals) and “panic in the middle class” about the betrayal of democracy when facing threats from below, the Philippines and thailand are striking cases of countries in which leading intellectuals have agitated for a middle class revolt against elected leaders.1
in thailand, the high-profile academics who cast aside their democratic principles to support a 2006 army coup against elected Prime Minister thaksin shinawatra that resulted in nearly a decade and a half of military domination of thai politics have been parodied as “tank” intellectuals who backed a “coup for the rich.” similarly, many Philippine intellectuals supported the overthrow of the democratically elected President Joseph e. estrada in 2001, a movie star who had transformed his cinematic image as a fighter for the poor into a successful presidential campaign.2
in a recent book, Joshua Kurlantzick has spoken of the “revolt of the middle class” as a chief cause for global democratic decline, citing the Philippine and thai cases as prime examples.3 this anti-democratic revolt came as a surprise because middle class-based uprisings had recently toppled corrupt dictatorships in the Philippines (“People Power” against the Marcos regime in 1986) and in thailand (the “Black Friday events” of 1992 that led to the fall of military ruler suchinda Kraprayoon).
Yet, after an illiberal populist and the military took power in the Philippines and thailand, respectively, there were clear signs of middleclass remorse. there have been significant dif