The Study On The Development Of The Liberal Party In The Philippines Since 1986

The Liberal Party is one of the oldest political parties in the Philippines.It is the same age as the current Republic of the Philippines.The development of political parties has been accompanied by the country?s destiny.In the early days of its establishment,the party had relatively extensive political strength and influence in Philippine politics.Later,it was severely suppressed by authoritarian rulers and encountered difficulties in its development.With the advent of a new round of democratization in 1986,the Liberal Party needed to introduce adaptive changes in order to regain political advantages in the context of a multi-party system.This paper mainly studies the development of the Liberal Party in Philippines since 1986.First of all,this paper sorts out the development history of the Liberal Party before 1986,combining the historical events in its initial growth period and its significant setback period,and analyzes the development characteristics of each stage.Secondly,combined with the historical background at national,regional and international levels,this paper summarizes the domestic and foreign factors that influenced the development and reform of the Liberal Party around 1986.According to the research paradigm of party politics,the development measures of the Liberal Party in the new era are divided into two categories: intra-party construction and inter-party communication.From the perspective of intra-party construction,the Liberal Party reformed and improved in four aspects: ideology,organizational structure,party-masses relations and policy program.The first was to establish a unique ideology and promote party values represented by “liberalism”;the second was to establish and improve the organizational structure from the central to the local level,clarify the functions and responsibilities of the party and party?s officials,and avoid struggles within the party;the third was to consolidate the relationship between the party and the masses,attach importance to the strong political role of the mass movement after the return of democracy,combine bottom-up interest demands with top-down willing implementation,and actively consolidate the party?s voter base;the fourth was to modify and improve the program of governance,face social issues directly,and put forward practical and reliable guidelines and policies.At the same time,the Liberal Party actively carries out inter-party communication activities.At home,it formed a coalition with other political parties with similar political interests to jointly participate in elections and governance;at abroad,it kept in touch with foreign political parties with similar ideologies,joined regional and international organizations of political parties that promote “liberalism”,and enhanced the international visibility of political parties.The Liberal Party,which has taken the initiative to implement adaptive changes,has achieved results in the past ten years.In 2010,it won the presidential election under the leadership of its party chairman Benigno Aquino III.At the same time,it performed well in the recent vice-presidential election,parliamentary election and local election.The Liberal Party abandoned the ills of internal partisan struggle,actively reflected the demands of the masses,and won external support.However,the inherent characteristics of the Philippine political culture are difficult to change.Therefore,there are still many shortcomings in the development of the Liberal Party,and it is difficult to completely transform into a modern party.By studying the reform measures and development effects of the Liberal Party and comparing the party images before and after 1986,it can be seen that this round of development of the Liberal Party is a gradual and limited reform.Adapting to the new requirements of the political situation is the main goal,while the ultimate goal of the Liberal Party is to win the election and seize the national power.The study of the Liberal Party can be used as a breakthrough in Philippine political research and observe the political development trend of the Philippines through the evolution of political parties.The development and reform of the Liberal Party is a dynamic process.With the deepening of the democratization process,the political power of the Liberal Party will remain strong for a short time.In recent years,the Liberal Party,which unilaterally provoked the “South China Sea Arbitration”,has a bad attitude towards China.The long-term observation of the Liberal Party will help control the unstable factors in China-Philippines relations and provide a reference for the development of bilateral relations.